


Tekcas City

by JosephWrites



Category: Original Work
Genre: Blood, Blood and Gore, Body Horror, Dark, Female Protagonist, Gore, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Mutilation, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Original Mythology, Original Universe, Psychological Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-02-25 05:21:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 21
Words: 82,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21670636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JosephWrites/pseuds/JosephWrites
Summary: Imagine a world where the impossible becomes an every-day occurrence. A world where the mythical is no more than common curtesy.Enid Ross hopes to find the truth behind Tekcas City, and what caused it to become the place it did, to write a story for her Journal group. However, she may find that the city has already written the story for her.[ WARNING: This book contains dark topics, such as body horror, graphic scenarios, implied mutilation and other disturbing themes. Proceed with caution. ]
Kudos: 11





	1. PROLOGUE- THE TALE OF TEKCAS

# PROLOGUE- The Tale of Tekcas

Enid stepped off the bus, down into the dusty bus station of the town of Tekcas. It said ‘City’ in the name, but Enid didn’t care- after all, the town consisted of a thirty residents, so it wasn’t even really a town, more of a village than anything. Why she was here was the more important part. After all, her entire career of Journalism depended on it.

Enid was tasked with discovering why Tekcas City had such a gruesome tagline- the tagline of ‘Leave while you can, because we sure can’t.’

 _“You can’t be in there for more than a week,”_ She’d been told by her advisor. _“After that, you won’t remember where you came from.”_

It seemed ridiculous to think that an entire city could be capable of such a thing. To her, Tekcas was just an old rumour; it was no more prevalent in the development of Earth than Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. It was a scary story before bed, nothing more. Enid was sure as hell not letting a fairy tale rule her opinion over life.

And yet, standing at the sign to the city, Enid felt an odd chill cut the air- a chill she simply chalked up to it being Christmas Eve.

The journey on the bus took half a day. The set-up to the journey had taken a month. Much like her advisor, they’d all been spooked solid of the town’s apparent ‘influence’ over them, refusing to even drive her close to the town for fear of being drawn inside. The bus she’d arrived on had parked her five miles out of it, and had done a U-turn behind her and driven back down the desolate road to the ‘safety’ of the dead-end business town she’d come from.

Enid huffed, once again looking at the city’s dust-covered sign.

**_TEKCAS CITY_ **

_‘You’ll never want to leave! A town of ~~fortune~~ THEDAMNED’_

_4.5 Miles North_

She shook her head, not understanding the apparent warning someone had now decided to scrawl onto the sign in red marker, crossing out the word ‘Fortune’ in their spider-crawl. Just to rub it into the warning, Enid went under the sign as she walked towards the town, adjusting the straps to her camera as she did.

Take pictures, write notes, sleep a night, and head out. That’s what she planned to do. Maybe, if she could find someone willing to sit in front of her and tell her the reasons behind the rumours, she could get an interview. After all, the town had apparently had a tragic enough history to literally be taken off the map of the UK- it was unable to be found in any map across the United Kingdom, despite clearly having roads connecting to it.

Enid trudged along, only stopping to do up her laces. She wore track pants, knee high boots and a combat belt that she could hold pens and rolls of film in. She’d bought them from a military shop just west of her office building, along with the low cut army top she’d thought was cute. Enid was eighteen years of age, and could easily go for any job she wanted from her stellar performance in college, yet decided of all things to go for journalism where everyone was still backwards about how they saw women.

At least it wasn’t Buzzfeed.

Enid arrived at a gas station some time into her walk. She’d known this was here, mind- this was about as far into the city she’d flown a drone a week prior before the connection got cut. To her surprise, that drone was now being sold in that very gas station by a man who looked to have one foot in the grave and another halfway up his own rear by the bug-eyed expression he gave her.

“... Hello?” She stood in front of the man, seeing his name was ‘Gary’ from his name plate. “I’d like to buy a bottle of water?”

‘Gary’ simply sniffed, reaching under his desk without ever breaking eye contact with Enid before slamming a pitcher of water onto the counter. “Thirty.”

“Uh... no, just a bottle will do...” Enid looked at the pitcher, a two gallon jug of water than he’d pulled out. “And thirty what? Pounds? You’re crazy if you think I’m paying that.”

“... Thirty.” He pointed at the sign. Enid read it carefully, seeing that it simply said the words ‘LEAVE WHILE YOU STILL CAN’, which caused her to scowl.

“Listen, I’m here to write a story, man.” Enid crossed her arms, angrily tapping her foot. “I’m sick of the rumours. I’m here to figure out what’s going on.”

Gary pointed more forcefully. It was then that Enid saw what was wrong with the man- a wire connected from his head to his arm, of which was bionic. His finger- more of a claw- rasped against the wooden plate of the gas station.

“Thirty.” His head twitched angrily. “Leave. Now.”

Enid growled. “Great.”

She left, thirsty and saddened. If that was a sign of things to come, maybe she should just leave while she had time to.

Maybe now was a good time to give up.

... And maybe, she needed to keep her mind from wandering. After all, this was her break into the big time! She just needed to head into town, find the guy who looked to know the most about the town and then... well, interview him. It’ll only take an hour, and then Enid could be out of the town with all the information she’d need.

Arriving at the town took an hour in itself. When Enid did arrive, she walked past one of the most pathetic excuses for a fence she’d ever seen to find herself in the city boundaries. The sign had letters that had fallen off, now only showing an outline of what the city once been.

And what a bad city it even was at this point. Half the buildings seemed abandoned or desolate, with the only building with its lights on being the saloon-style bar on the other side of the road. The sun was still high in the sky, so she didn’t expect anyone to be inside, only to find that a third of the damn town had gathered to drink.

Enid walked towards the bar. As she did, she stepped on a floorboard that made a loud creak, and the conversation in the bar died like she’d just triggered everyone’s attention. She took a seat at the middle seat in the bar, tapping the counter twice to try and get the bartender’s attention.

The man came out of the corner of the room, wiping at a glass with a disgusting dish cloth. “You the one who stepped on the floorboard?”

Enid nodded. “Yeah. So?”

“First drink costs extra.” He spat yellow phlegm into the cup, wiping it into the glass to give the horrible shine of disgust. “What can I get you?”

“Well, nothing now.” Enid hummed. “I’m not ordering a drink anyway. I just want water...”

“Water’s free.” He spat into the cup again.

“Just... not from that cup please.”

Thankfully, Enid was heard and the glass of water was given to her in a different glass. However, it was obvious from the colour of said glass that he’d spat in that one as well, probably more than the one he was cleaning.

Enid unwillingly sucked the water through her teeth, hoping to God it didn’t taste too bad. The Bartender didn’t even blink as, after she took a swig, he tossed the glass aside, the sound of smashing glass hitting the tiles underneath them and running water from where the water had still been in it.

“You’re new around here, huh?” The bartender leant hard on the bar. “The regulars know not to step on that floorboard after all.”

Enid tutted. “Is that such a bad thing? I’m only here for a day. I wanted to conduct research on this place.”

“That’s what they all say.” The bartender leans in, his eyes widening to let Enid see his crazy eyes that shook. “The day turns into a week, and a week into a month. Soon, you don’t remember where you come from... you don’t remember where you’ve been. You fall into their roles, expecting respect, until the city deals with you personally.”

Enid gripped the leather of her stool, resisting the urge to show fear.

“Even now... the seeds of Tekcas have planted themselves inside your mind...” The Bartender reached out, running a finger down Enid’s face. She tried to stop him, but it was like she was frozen in place. “A tree wishes to burst forth of your mind, a tree decorated in Tekcas’ colours of Dust and Dunes. You will become one of us...”

Before Enid could finally give in to her heavy, fearful breathing, the doors to the bar swung open, breaking the tense atmosphere. Instantly, everyone got back to doing what they were doing, talking like they’d been unpaused from the moment. Enid let loose a sigh of relief as the floorboard squeaked, thinking that she was about to turn to see another person who was new and confused.

What she got instead was what might’ve been the most tired looking man she’d ever seen in her entire life. His eyes- well, eye- was weighed down with serious baggage that almost coagulated under it, a small amount of it pulling away into a small knife-like bruise he had just under his eye. His skin was pale like a sheet, and his hair, as black as coal. He wore a dark blue shirt with a lighter shaded pocket, black trousers and carried a rucksack that was sewn together after what might’ve been decades of use and abuse.

Enid went to speak, but the man just raised a finger to her, boredly looking at The Bartender as he continued to clean the glass he’d been cleaning since the beginning of the conversation with Enid.

The Bartender tried to speak. “You the one who--”

“Yep.” The man’s voice was low. Tired, like he’d done an eight hour shift with no break. It was also slightly quiet, breaking the expectation that he’d be moody that Enid had built in her head. “Lagna-Shiia. Double size, Eighth of Vodka, spice with lime.”

“Certainly, sir.”

Though the demand had been quick, The Bartender quickly got to work, leaving me to watch how he actually worked, grabbing an even dirtier glass from the counter before I heard a sigh come from my mystery drinking partner.

And then, he clicked twice. The Bartender paused before tossing the glass aside, breaking it to pieces. He then reached upwards, revealing he did indeed have clean glasses, hidden behind a small cupboard.

“Is he...” Enid turned to the mystery man. “Always like this?”

“Everyone is,” he replied, not even turning to her. “Welcome to Tekcas.”

“You’re from this town, I assume?” Enid watched as the bartender mixed Lager, Rum and Whisky into a shaker.

“Lived here my entire life,” he responded. “What I can remember of it, anyway. I’m thirty five and memories barely hit me as factual anymore.”

“I... Okay.” Enid knew questioning him wasn’t going to go anywhere; not without time, anyway. “I’m a Journalist, see, and I was wondering if I could do an interview with you?”

That’s when the mystery man turned to Enid, his hair covering what was surely only his left eye, and he grabbed her by the shoulders in an almost violent manner.

“You want an interview?” He scoffed, a frown wrenched onto his face. “I’ll give you some advice instead. Leave. Never come back.”

“B-But...”

“No.” He took his hands off of her. “Don’t wrap yourself up in the laws of Tekcas, kid. Run. Run like your life depends on it. Ignore everything you’ve been told to do, and leave. Do what I can’t... before it’s too late.”

Enid looked at him in shock as he grabbed his drink, not even letting the Bartender put it down on a coaster for him, and downed it in one gulp. Good thing, too- if he hadn’t, the glass would’ve still had liquid in it before it got sent flying.

“And for the Love of the non-existent Gods... The CREATURES that watch over us...” He growled out a final threat. “Don’t. Open. The coffins.”

And like that, he was gone, never even paying for his drink. The Bartender didn’t seem to care- he just got back to cleaning the glass he’d held for the duration of it all. Enid couldn’t help but feel the urge to follow her mystery advice giver outside, walking out to see he was heading down the street, hands in his pockets.

She took two running steps after him before she heard a laugh behind her. She turned, expecting to see the Bartender, but only got an eyeful of the tail of some rodent flicking into the back alleys.

Then, she was running his direction in terror.

Rodents don’t usually laugh in childish voices. At least, the normal size ones didn’t... and normal size rodents didn’t usually have tails the size of her forearm.

“Wait up!” She yelled after him. “Please!”

The man stopped. He looked over his shoulder with his only showing eye, clearly unamused that she’d followed him out- a point he made clear when he growled at her like a beast.

“Please, you don’t understand,” She panted as she reached him. “I need this story. My job is on the line... I...”

“Your job means nothing to me.” The man was brutally honest with her, which might’ve been the point she needed. “Tekcas doesn’t care about whom you are, more who you’ll become. You’ll become one of us if you stay here. You’ll become nothing more than a hollow point bullet in Tekcas’ gun.”

She whimpered. “Stop referring to the city as alive... this place is just really weird. Please... all I need is an interview of how it got this way, and I’ll go. You’re my only hope.”

The man looked at Enid with an eye of pity. As he did, he turned slowly to building nearby- an abandoned Laundromat- and in one second, showed her exactly why he didn’t care about her ‘story’.

In fact, in that one moment... Enid realised why she didn’t care about her story anymore.

There was a woman. She was armless, but didn’t let that stop her as she used a paintbrush in her mouth to draw swirls and spirals on the wall with dark yellow paint. Enid gasped, putting her hands to her mouth as she saw what seemed to be a baby, dangling just above the ground the by its mother’s umbilical cord which connected directly up under the dress. It was dead, long gone, rotting, but the mother didn’t care. She just kept painting, humming a cheerily macabre tune as she did, the child’s head hitting against the wall every so often to add an extra shade of red to the picture’s disgusting mustard colour mural.

Enid looked to the man. “W-We--”

“Her name is Dorian,” He interrupted. “She’s here every day. Just... paints. Every day.”

“W-What... what happened to her?!” Enid asked angrily. “Why aren’t we helping her?!”

“Because, like you’ll be...” Enid made a finger gun and pretended to shoot himself in the head. “She’s gone. No better than dead now... A waste bin to Tekcas.”

Enid took a step forward, only to stop when she realised just how difficult of a situation it would be. She’d walk over and... What? Ask politely for the woman to tend to her dead baby? Ask the woman to stop painting, which is apparently all she could do?

“They forget.” The man continued relentlessly, not letting Enid pause for breath. “Every day that you’re alive in this town, you forget. It’ll decide what you don’t. The city decides what you’re good at here... and to Dorian, it’s painting.”

“Then...” Enid looked back at him. “What about you?”

“Hm?” He raised an eyebrow at her.

“You’re clearly different to them,” Enid surmised. “You’re aware of how it works. You’re aware of what you’re doing, and that you’re talking to me... you even know that woman’s name. You said you were thirty five, right?”

“An age I’ve figured out through trial and error.” The man got slightly agitated. “What’s this supposed to mean exactly?”

“It means...” She paused before taking a deep breath and extending a hand. “My name is Enid Ross. Nice to meet you.”

The man looked at the hand for a few seconds, like he’d forgotten what a handshake was, before sighing and grabbing it with a freezing cold hand of his own. “Osper. Osper Mike.”

Enid nodded at him. “Well, Osper, about that interview...”

However, Osper just turned and began walking away. Enid had to get in front of him and backpedal as they continued talking.

“Why won’t you tell me what’s going on?!” She yelled at him. “Is it that bad?”

“It’s bad enough.” He spoke without a single hint of emotion in his voice. “This place would be better forgotten. It’s people like you that keep the legend alive... we would’ve been long gone if nobody said anything about the town that never gave people back.”

Enid kicked a can across the street as she turned around. “If you gave me an interview, I could literally be out of here by tomorrow.”

“You’re not leaving.”

At those words, Enid paused in place, watching as Osper walked past her without looking at her. “You guys keep saying that...”

“You keep neglecting it.” Osper didn’t wait for her as they continued down the street. “Let me be abundantly clear here- This town. Absorbs. People. Once it has a wrought-iron grip on you... it never lets go.”

Enid sucked air through her teeth. “Oh, don’t worry. I’ve got my cellphone.”

“With no wifi,” Osper added. Enid rolled her eyes and checked her phone, seeing that he was correct.

“I’ve got 4G! And I’ve got boyfriend on speed-dial if I need a ride home.”

“The word is ‘want’, not ‘need’.” Osper didn’t look back as they continued. “You’ll never ‘need’ anything outside this town now.”

“And that’s where you stop making sense again,” Enid reminded him. “Look, all I’m asking for is an hour of your time. Please.”

Osper finally stopped. He looked at Enid with angry eyes, taking a deep, deep sigh.

“Leave me alone.”

And with that, he pushed Enid aside, walking down the road. She watched him go, now knowing that she’d pushed him too far. She looked left guiltily.

Looking right at a very elderly man, who stood there with a toothy grin. ‘Toothy’ being the word to describe him as- he had four of them, with a hole in one of those four teeth. His eyes were completely dull, showing he was more than certainly blind, with a scruffy beard and short white hair. He was hunched over, leaning on a walking stick that was tied together with red rope.

That’s what Enid hoped to God it was, anyway. It didn’t help that the red rope was going up into his stomach.

“How ya doing, sweetie...?” The man had a raspy voice- like if you tried to yell with a sore throat- but Enid understood him perfectly. “Can I help you...?”

Enid gulped, seeing that Osper was now completely out of view. “I was... looking for an interview.”

“Ah... I’d be willing to give you one!” He craned with his finger. “Come on, come inside, dear... Make yourself at home.”

Enid followed the man into the alleyway, acutely aware she could be killed and not exactly in a state to care. The man pointed to the nearby chair, where Enid refused to sit, and poured her a cup of disgusting looking tea, which Enid refused to drink. The man then sat in the armchair nearby.

“So... what would you like to interview me on?” He asked pleasantly. “I’ve been here for over sixty years!”

“So you’re aware of the things in this town?” Enid asked, removing her notepad. “Can I get your name...?”

The man responded by staring, unblinking, with his dull grey eyes. Enid waited patiently as his mouth opened slowly, a guttural groan coming out of it, one of his only four teeth falling out.

“O-Oh... um...”

“My name is Gunter!” He smiled suddenly. “I’m eighty four years old... moved here from Cambridge with my wife during the war, as a matter of fact...”

Gunter motioned to Enid’s cup, expecting her to drink from it, so Enid had to make an excuse quickly. “Sorry, I’m not thirsty.”

“Ah, alright dear...” He then turned to face a dark corner of the room. “Georgia... you can have her cup...”

Enid looked over to that corner, seeing that there was a corpse in that direction. Not just a corpse, however- Several corpses, all seemingly stitched together and decimated by some sort of sawed weapon. Enid resisted the urge to vomit as Gunter picked up Enid’s cup and poured the entire contents of it into the carcass’ lap.

“Oh, is that your... w-wife?” Enid tried to be nice.

“Indeed she is...” Gunter knelt down next to the body, which would be called Georgia in that case, giving it a kiss on the cheek. “Been my pride and joy for over fifty years...”

“I’m... glad to hear that.” Enid had to hide her mouth with her hand to cough when ‘Georgia’ produced blood from her mouth. “So... about this interview...”

“Ah, yes...” He got up again. “Lemme just... grab the microphone, from my closet... so you can hear me better.”

He got up again, walking over to some other object in the room that Enid hadn’t seen on the way in. Enid watched him as he tried to pull the top of said object open, with a combination of no effort at all and all the effort he could use. It had only been at that point that Enid noticed Gunter’s spine was sticking out of his back, barely being held on by thick strands of back muscle.

“My... I must be getting old!” He huffed, straightening slightly and waving off the container in defeat. “Can’t open it... can you get it for me, dear?”

Enid coughed twice. “S-Sure. Sure.”

She walked over, gripping the top of the container and getting ready to open it went she saw exactly what it was...

It was a coffin. The kind of standard coffin that you’d bury the dead in. Enid drummed her fingers on it before pushing the top upwards, only to back away with the urge to vomit when all it contained was dirt, worms and maggots.

“Oh... would you look at that!” Gunter laughed raspily. “It’s time for my bath... Sorry, dear, I’ll need to schedule a rain check...”

Enid nodded rapidly, backing toward the exit out of the alleyway. “Yeah, okay, I’m sure we’ll... see each other around...”

Gunter proceeded to get into the coffin, wiggling into it to bury himself under the dirt. He didn’t even take off his clothes to do it.

“See ya, sweetie pie...” He shovelled a mouth full of dirt into his mouth.

Enid got out of there after that. The second she arrived back into the sun, however...

Something hit her from behind.

**...**


	2. Chapter 1- Escape Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNINGS-
> 
> Mutilation  
> Implied Sexual Exploitation
> 
> Read with caution.  
> \----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

# CHAPTER 1- ESCAPE REALITY

“Not fair, is it?”

That’s the words Enid found herself waking up to. They weren’t directed at her, however- they were directed at the carcass that was slumped next to her, eyes open wide in terror. Meanwhile, a beautifully dressed woman stood with a powerful stance, lustily toying with another man who whimpered and begged her to stop.

“So fragile...” The well-dressed woman’s voice was like silk. Everything she said came out with the twinge of vampirism that a woman on a night out trying to pull a man might use, but while they would it for that night it seemed she was cursed to use it permanently. “You’ll make a fine meal for the Nameless. You’re just so dainty and weak.”

“P-Please...” As the well-dressed woman stepped aside, grabbing surgical tools from the table beside her, Enid saw just how beaten the other man was, having had his clothes stripped off his body and the bones in his arms forcibly removed. “I won’t tell anyone... don’t do this...”

“Don’t...? Dear, you don’t seem to know what mess you’ve gotten yourself into.” The well-dressed woman grabbed her own face, running her nails down her cheek before adjusting her bowler hat over her eyes. “You should’ve known not to betray the cult... we were providing you with all you needed, and yet you attempted to modify our contact to The One Beyond.”

“I was doing what was right!” The beaten man yelled, a last bit of defiance before death. “I did what you wanted! I gave you every part of me, and you never saw anything I did! So I... tried to contact him, just so you’d finally pay attention.”

That’s when the well-dressed woman laughed at the top of her lungs, echoing off the walls with an ‘Ohohoho’. “Dear... you were never doing anything _right._ That’s why you didn’t get the motherly love you think you deserve.”

“I deserved better,” the beaten man spat.

“Then I hope you’ll find better in the Great Beyond.”

The beaten man began screaming in terror as the well-dressed woman grabbed him by the face, planting a very passionate kiss onto it like she was draining the life out of her victim. As she did, the well-dressed woman began grinding into the beaten man’s neck with a dirty hacksaw, blood spraying everywhere as they continued to kiss.

Enid closed her eyes again. The guttural noises of an open throat made them scrunch tightly.

Where was she? What was this hell? She never got the answers as the well-dressed woman audibly walked over in clacking heels. However, Enid’s face must’ve seemed like she was still unconscious because the well-dressed woman simply breathed hot air onto her face.

“Still asleep, are we sugar?” A hand caressed Enid’s inner thigh. “I don’t doubt that he hit you that hard, but...”

Enid pretended she was just waking up, looking directly into the most beautiful face she’d ever seen. Enid had never been attracted to girls, but if she was, this one would be the one to do it. With an almost perfect face, the woman was drop-dead gorgeous, on the one condition you didn’t mind her eyes, which had white irises and black sclera. The bowler hat, from this angle, had a pale pink heart on it.

“Oh, that seemed to do it.” The woman laughed gently, her voice now causing Enid to shiver. “Welcome to Tekcas, dear... I hope you enjoyed the first day here. The locals can be a bit rough, but the sights become so memorable... Wouldn’t you agree?”

Enid knew who this woman was. Well, not the name of her- she knew the person, though. The type of high school beauty that every man in the building would pay to sleep with. Mixed in was insanity, something that Enid had been expecting, but not to this degree.

Enid tried to sit up, but the well-dressed woman grabbed her by the forehead and slammed it into the metal counter she’d been lying on. “Now, now... come on. You were hit pretty hard... I suggest you rest. Here... let me help you get comfortable.”

Enid tried to speak. Tried to. She realised all too late that her mouth had been stitched shut as the well-dressed woman put a long slender leg over the table, straddling Enid’s hips with her own. The woman weighed way more than Enid expected, the pressure now building on her body as she began to tear up.

“Tell me, dear...” The well-dressed woman was clearly making fun of Enid at this point, interlocking their fingers and holding their hands down next to either side of Enid’s head. “What brings you to a town like this? Seeking residence, or pleasure... or me...?”

The woman leant into Enid, her ample chest fitting well in Enid’s vision from the design of the dress. The well-dressed woman slid up Enid like a snake, now resting on her lower torso.

“Is that what you want, dear?” The hands interlocking fingers with Enid’s suddenly retracted, now resting on her shoulders instead. “Do you want to be with me forever and ever? To make babies with me, forever and ever?”

Enid didn’t even know this woman’s name. She squirmed slightly, the hands on her shoulders holding her down far more than they should have.

Luckily for her, the well-dressed woman didn’t get further as a very, very loud knock hit the door twice, followed by a dinosaur-style screech.

The well-dressed woman pouted. “Yes, I’ll be out in a minute...” She proceeded to get off of Enid, whose want to sigh in relief turned into a muffled scream of terror as she blindfolded her.

“Sorry, dear... we can’t play today.” Willowy fingers draped over Enid’s forehead. “Big Meanie Nameless doesn’t like breaking in the newcomers until the city says we can. I promise we’ll be together soon...”

The door flew open. Enid knew that it flew open, because the sound of the inside handle smashed against the tiled wall, breaking them. The noise that followed was not human; not in the slightest. It was like if a reptile barely got a grasp of human language and chose to speak while speaking inwards. Enid couldn’t understand a word he said.

Perhaps the well-dressed woman couldn’t either.

“Nameless!” The well-dressed woman remained in her tone as she spoke to him. “We’re still on schedule, you know... it’s not as though I can’t play with this one a little more, no?”

Following that sentence was a weird roaring sound, like the ‘Nameless’ had rolled his tongue while breathing outwards. Enid could barely see anything looking through the blindfold, but she could definitely see a shadow twice the woman’s size standing in the room with them now.

The well-dressed woman huffed. “Come on... I have to feed my desire soon, or I’ll shrivel up... I haven’t had good sex in a month.”

That didn’t change his mind. Before Enid knew it, she was screaming without opening her stitched mouth as a large hand grabbed her hair and dragged her painfully out of the room. She continued trying to pry the fingers away as she was taken down what felt like an endless hallway, the clicking heels of the well-dressed woman following them closely.

“Don’t worry, dear...” The woman continued. “We’ll play later. Right now, we need to take you back to your cell while the city decides what it wants to make you.”

Enid couldn’t reply, so she didn’t. The creature dragging her growled from the throat, which seemed to mean ‘shut up’ in his language because the woman didn’t speak again.

After what felt like eternity, Enid was thrown haphazardly into a cell. Another girl shrieked as it happened, but that was pretty much the end of the well-dressed woman and the creature who brought her here because Enid was left alone.

“Oh, you poor thing.” As the sound of the cell shutting echoed the cell block, the blindfold was stripped away from Enid’s face to meet the eyes of a much older woman. “How cruel... why would they do this to you?”

Enid again tried to respond, but couldn’t. That caused the woman to pluck away some of the stitches, and the rest came free when Enid let out a pained screech. Blood poured from the wounds as Enid held a hand over them, trying her hardest not to freak out further.

“It’s alright now... you’re okay.” The woman took off a neck scarf, handing it to Enid for her to use as a bandage. “Listen... my name is Andrea. What’s yours?”

“A-Andrea...” Enid muttered to herself. “E-Enid. What’s going on? Where are we?”

“Well...” Andrea looked around. “From what I can gather, we’re in the lower quarters of Tekcas. Think of it as some underground bunker, where all the prisoners of this city used to reside.”

“U-Used to?” Enid kept the neck scarf held over her lips. “What happened to them?”

“Same thing that happened to everyone else,” Andrea put bluntly. “They died. The lucky ones did, anyway. The rest have to suffer down here with us.”

“A-And the people above ground?” Enid asked gently.

“There are people above ground?” Andrea replied, confused.

Enid gulped. The woman was around fifty years old, African-American in culture and wore prison garbs stained with blood and puke. Her voice seemed to have embraced a slightly hateful tone to it, but it wasn’t directed at Enid- it was simply directed at the world for putting her in this condition. Despite this, Andrea’s eyes still shone blue and her hair was barely going grey.

The stress of the situation hadn’t gotten to her yet, it seemed.

Enid checked the amount of blood she was losing, only to see that it was slowing down. “So... now what?”

“Now, Enid...” Andrea huffed as she went and sat on her gangrened mattress. “We wait for what the city wants to do with us.”

“W-Wait?” Enid got up, looking around the cell. It was clearly just a prison cell, the one that you’d probably see in games or movies, but with two beds in it instead of one. “Andrea, we can’t just wait here. Did you see the woman?”

“Blanche?” Andrea seemed to know her by name. “Yes, she comes around occasionally. She prefers men, see, so we’re a lucky couple.”

“W-What do you- No, that’s not what I mean!” Enid panted and shook her head. “Do you see what they’re doing to the others?!”

“And did you get a glimpse of what we’re up against?” Andrea suddenly went serious. “Enid, sweetie... we don’t stand a chance against them. The big guy’s used to tearing people limb from limb; imagine what he’ll do if he catches us trying to escape.”

Enid felt like she was about to pull her hair out trying to talk sense into her. “Andrea... how long have you been here?”

“I stopped keeping track,” Andrea replied solemnly. “You learn to grin and bear it after the first couple of centuries.”

Enid sat on her bed, defeated. However, what she felt fall next to her gave her hope- they’d let her keep her camera. How it’d survived the drag over she wouldn’t try and explain.

She’d need clear pictures of everything to explain what the hell happened to her when she escaped.

If, she escaped...

The first thing Enid did was check the lock on the door. It was a basic chain and lock, the kind that you’d tie a bike with, but the chain seemed to have thorns on it. If there was a way to break the chain, Enid couldn’t do it with her bare hands. She’d need a tool.

Andrea saw what she was doing and groaned. “Enid, please. Just sit down for a moment. You’re probably tired from your journey over, right?”

“I’m getting out of here.” Enid toyed with the lock. “You’re welcome to come with me, if you can find it in your heart to.”

That’s when Andrea got up, huffing as she did. “Enid...”

“Don’t ‘Enid’ me!” She turned to face Andrea. “I’m not content sitting in this cell for two thousand years while I wait for this place to decide what it wants to turn me into! This is all a false illusion!”

Andrea adjusted her hair. “Enid, you won’t get far. All it’ll take is for them to see you and they’ll be ripping you to shreds.”

“Then I won’t get seen,” Enid replied, unclipping her hairclip and removing a bobby pin from out of it. “Now watch the gate.”

Enid began trying to pick the lock. Granted, she had no clue what she was doing- she’d never had to pick a lock before, especially in a situation like this. However, desperation was taking over, and she could feel her claustrophobia acting up as she began frantically twisting the pin about.

Andrea was helping with her words. “Enid...”

“I have to get out...” Enid kept trying. “I have to get out. I have to get out... I have to...”

That’s when the thudding footsteps of an approaching man began walking down the hall. Enid flew to her feet, simply leaning on the bars to pretend she wasn’t doing anything. As she did, she saw what monstrous creature had decided to come say hello.

Enid instantly recognised it as the thing that dragged her down the corridor. She could tell it was him because he was the tallest man she’d ever seen in her life- standing eight foot tall, his head barely avoiding getting dragged along the ceiling. Spines jutted out from his head, running down along his back, eventually splitting from one into two into three. A lizard-style tail slithered behind him, poking out from the bottom of the robes he wore, of which red crystals was decorating them in a ribcage-like pattern.

As the monster walked past the cell, an eye emerged from his back on his robes, looking at Enid with a dark red stare. Like Blanche, the white part of the eye was pitch black, and the pupil was that of a serpents; a thin slit that expanded slightly to get a better look at her. The creature stopped, turning to look over his shoulder, revealing that the hood of the robes was pulled low enough to hide his real eyes.

When the monster smiles, his entire cheek split open, showing bloody yellow fangs that went up further than any human mouth. Enid backed away from the cage as he came back, standing in front of the cage, his entire body wide enough to block out the unnatural light in the hallway, casting the cell in darkness.

Enid whimpered when she saw that his right arm was that of a blade. No, not a blade- it was a giant jagged sword that glowed red hot, eyeballs opening and closing on it like it was alive. The monster stuck it through the bars to point at Enid, barely clipping her with the tip of it, and Enid felt intense heat radiating off of it like a dormant volcano.

In a town where the impossible was natural, this thing seemed far too unnatural to be real.

Luckily, that’s as far as the monster went. He stepped away from the cell, heading back down the hallway as it chuckled gutturally to itself. Enid collapsed backwards into the wall behind her.

Andrea sat back down on her bed. “That was the Nameless. He’s infused with unholy spirits from the underworld.”

Enid could only mutter. “Impossible... T-This is... Impossible.”

Andrea laughed at her fear. “Impossible... How I wish that word had meaning anymore.”

Further down the hallway, a scream surfaced as the sound of ripping steel could be heard. Enid covered her ears and screamed herself, the terror of the situation finally catching up with her.

“Looks like its feeding time...” Andrea got up, walking over to the bars to watch what was going on. “He’s gone for Marcus... a shame. I really liked him...”

“I wanna go home!” Enid yelled to herself. “I wanna go home! I don’t wanna be here anymore!”

Andrea looked over her shoulder at Enid.

“Sweetie... this _is_ your home now.”

The density of the topic finally dropped on Enid. Now she understood. Now she knew why people didn’t leave this place after visiting. She was trapped underground- she’d never be able to leave.

And if you can’t leave... you become a resident. One of the psychos living up on the surface, or a sacrifice for the cult down in the depths.

Enid felt her vision blur as she looked up, seeing Andrea was now standing in front of her. Enid threw her hands around her leg, crying deeply into it, while Andrea simply stood and watched her soak her trousers.

This was it.

Enid was one of them now.

... At least... that’s what she thought.

Suddenly, a ring-tone cut through the air. It was a classical rendition of a rap song from some other time, but it was a connection to the outside world. Her mind cleared instantly as Enid took the cell-phone out of her pocket- her salmon pink flip phone she used for business calls.

That’s right... they hadn’t stripped her. They hadn’t searched her at all.

That meant she still had her pocket knife in her boot. She still had her camera, too... and now, she had her way out.

Without thinking, Enid flipped her phone open. “Hello?!”

“Enid, it’s me, Ronsin.” It was her advisor from work. “How’s it going? Did you get anyone to talk to you?”

“Dear God, Ronsin, help!” Enid screamed down the receiver. “There’s a cult in this damn place! They’re kidnapping people and killing them and I watched a woman get her head cut off and--”

“What? Slow down, Enid!” The voice was cracking. The connection wasn’t good- which should be obvious, because they were underground- but the call wasn’t unsalvageable. “You’re breaking up... what was that about a cult?”

“Ronsin, listen carefully!” Enid tried to articulate the best she could. “Get help! Call the police, the army, call anyone! There are people trapped in this city and they need help!”

A pause. Then, Ronsin spoke again. “Enid, what are you talking about?”

“Please, Ronsin!” Enid cried into her phone, tears dripping to the floor. “You’re my only hope now...”

“Enid--”

Suddenly, the shadow of something casting into the cell caught Enid’s attention. She looked up, only to feel her heart drop as she saw the Nameless standing there, the sinister smile painted on her face.

Enid realised her life was in danger.

“RONSIN!” Enid yelled, losing her cool. “FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, RECORD THIS CONVERSATION BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!”

The Nameless, using his left hand which was still human, grabbed the lock and chain like it was no more than string and yanked it away. Andrea scratched at the back of her hand as the Nameless prowled inside, hastily walking over to Andrea and grabbing her around the throat, lifting her up off the floor and high into the air to meet him at the face. His breath smelt like rot and copper, and he made sure she knew that as he breathed disturbingly hot air onto her face.

Andrea stepped back. “N-Nameless, she’s new. She didn’t know the rules. Please, don’t do this.”

In response, the Nameless swung outwards with his blade arm, decapitating Andrea. That was how her life ended. It was so sudden that Enid didn’t even think about screaming.

The Nameless pulled Enid in closer. Enid knew this was it for her as well. There was no way a creature like this would let her live. So, as a final act of defiance like the woman in the room she woke up in, Enid spat into the Nameless’ open mouth, causing him to flinch and his smile to vanish.

Enid got to see firsthand that the mouth of the Nameless was the only feature on his face. He flew into a rage, throwing Enid directly downwards with enough force to put her through the concrete floor. She cried out in agony as the Nameless stamped on her with a giant foot, then went in for the kill with the giant blade.

Before the blade hit her, though, the monster paused, almost like he’d been frozen in place. The tiniest of voices echoed in the cell; so quiet that Enid didn’t hear what was said. Whoever it was, and whatever was said, the Nameless suddenly retracted all rage it had before grabbing Enid by the shirt and yanking her out of the hole.

“W-Where are you taking me?” Enid asked. The Nameless only responded by growling out a chuckle, dragging Enid down the corridor again. This time, Enid got to see where she was going- the cell block she’d been placed in was just a long corridor as she suspected, with an open entrance into a round room with a throne that a girl sat in, twirling a small pipe in between her fingers.

Blanche stood next to the girl’s throne. “My, my... it’s the cutie from earlier.”

“Should’ve known.” The girl sighed. “You have a habit of not checking the pockets of the people you capture.”

Enid was thrown in front of the throne. She looked up at the girl with tears in her eyes, about to beg for her life, but the harsh reality of the situation made her think otherwise.

The girl couldn’t have been older than eight years old, but the scars on the girl’s face made her look much older. One of her eyes were dulled and broken, a grey iris and a grey pupil, with a large mark running from forehead to cheek. She also had a face mask that covered her entire lower face in a pattern that looked like a skull or a furnace.

“So you’re the one inciting rebellion...” The girl twirled the pipe about some more. “You? You must be insane to even think about it.”

The Nameless walked over to the throne, helping the girl stand up.

“... My name is Eon.” The way she pronounced it was ‘A-on’, but Enid knew that Eon was spelt with an E. “I run the Cult of Tekcas.”

Enid’s eye twitched. “Y-You’re just a kid...”

Eon sighed as she trotted down to Enid. Enid kneeling was the exact same size as Eon, so they met eye to eye as she got about three steps within Enid’s boundaries.

“If I am a kid...” Eon pulled away the mask, showing her mouth was much like Enid’s at this moment- ragged and scarred. “Then you are a baby.”

“T-That...” Enid went to speak back again, but saw that Eon was removing a pink powder from her back pocket. She placed in into the end of her pipe before pushing her ring finger on the bottom of the metal cup, causing it to fizz and bubble.

She took a long drag of the pipe like a cigarette before blowing crimson smoke into Enid’s face.

“By warning your... associate... of this place...” Eon grabbed Enid behind the head. “You have violated a basic rule. You have damned him, and anyone he will bring with him.”

“How many of you are there?” Enid asked sheepishly.

“Enough to blot the sun,” Eon probably lied. “Enough that they will have to fight us a hundred to one. The Cult of Tekcas doesn’t fear anyone or anything. We have simply become it.”

Enid felt her fingers drum on her camera as she thought about how she could fix the situation she was in.

“When our number rivals the Earth... Tekcas will expand.” Eon pointed the smoking end of the pipe at Enid’s eyeball, showing it was razor sharp. “We will encompass the entire world. Tekcas City will become a continent. And then... with the resources you’ve provided for us... we’ll rebuild. Make it stronger.”

“You’re insane,” Enid spat.

“Aren’t we all.” Eon touched the smoking end of her pipe to Enid’s cheek. “Now... be still. Death will be here to take you shortly.”

Before Eon could push in with the needle, Enid swung her camera upwards, hitting the shutter button to make the flash go off in Eon’s face. She flinched backwards, sort of turning away, but it did cause her to drop her pipe.

“... Why you little--”

And then, the sound of something whizzed past Enid’s head, striking Eon with enough force to throw her backwards. Enid looked over her shoulder to where it had come from, only for her face to light up in a smile.

Standing there, reloading his crossbow at the entrance to the cells, was Osper.

“A shame,” He said. “I was aiming for the head.”

Enid scattered to her feet, running to where Osper was standing. As she did, Eon sat up, pulling the crossbow bolt from her shoulder with no concern for her health.

Eon looked over her shoulder. “Nameless.”

The Nameless instantly recognised what he had to do, crouching downwards to prepare a sprint. Enid was out of there before she got to see that, as was Osper, but it wasn’t like they’d miss what was going on.

After all, after climbing one staircase upwards to the second story of the cell block, the Nameless was already barrelling in after them, running on all fours like a cheetah. Enid screamed as she looked to see him coming.

Osper didn’t react at all. He simply slammed the door in the Nameless’ face as they came to another staircase, holding it still and throwing a spare pipe through the handle.

“What are you doing here?!” Enid yelled.

“I was in the neighbourhood,” He replied coldly.

“No, Osper, what are you doing _here_?” Enid repeated. “Did you follow them down here to save me...?”

“Save you?” Osper blew air through closed lips. “Don’t make this about yourself. I’ve wanted Eon dead for the past twenty years.”

The Nameless’ blade cut through the iron door like paper as Osper got off the door. “Now, keep moving.”

“G-Good idea.”

Enid ran behind Osper as they climbed the new staircase. By the time they got to the top, though, the Nameless burst through the lower floor. He looked straight up, the hood never falling backwards, but since Enid and Osper were three stories up at this point Enid thought they’d at least be safe- that was until the Nameless began pouncing up the staircase’s sides with no effort, landing directly on the floor they’d been running to.

Osper skidded to a halt. “Oh, for...”

Enid screamed as the Nameless threw itself at her from the floor above. Osper barely pulled her out of the way, causing the Nameless to slam his head into the wall, but either it didn’t care or didn’t show pain because it was standing tall above them in moments.

Osper and Enid backed away slowly as the Nameless approached, crouching slightly to seem intimidating as it smiled widely. Enid’s back hit the wall first, and when she began crying Osper sighed in defeat.

“Well, we can’t outrun this thing...” Osper groaned. “What a pain...”

“W-We’re going to die...” Enid whimpered, still crying. “I don’t wanna die... there’s so much I still have to do...”

Osper tutted. “... Ugh. Fine.”

Suddenly, Osper removed a catholic cross, holding it to the Nameless’ face. Despite the fact it clearly did nothing to him, the Nameless did pause to look at it in confusion, making the sound of a confused reptile-dog as he did.

However, Osper didn’t give him a chance to recover from the confusion as he tossed it into the air, catching it by the crossbeam to reveal the bottom had been sharpened into a point.

“ _Mortem tuam_ , MotherFUCKER!”

Osper swung upwards with it, right through the Nameless’ lower jaw, causing it to begin spewing dark orange blood. Osper then planted a kick upwards, pushing it further into his mouth, which then caused the Nameless to make choking sounds and fall backwards over the railing, where his body plummeted five stories downwards.

Osper sighed. Enid laughed nervously.

“Well, that’ll be difficult to explain later,” Osper began trekking up the staircase. Enid watched as the orange blood turned to hard rock like lava.

“W-What did you do?” Enid asked, following close behind.

“I pissed him off,” Osper replied emotionlessly.

Enid and Osper walked through the top floor of the cell block. Sunlight was coming from the staircase beyond, clearly the way out that they’d been looking for.

“W-We can leave through there!” Enid pointed out the obvious.

“I know,” Osper answered back. “I came from here.”

Enid ran ahead of him, getting to the staircase far before Osper. Cold air blew in from an open trapdoor, filling her with hope that they could leave.

“W-We did it, Osper!” Enid turned to yell back at him. “We did it! We can... we can get...”

Enid spluttered when she saw that Osper was looking into the cell two blocks from the exit. She walked back over to him, seeing what he was looking at.

Inside the cage was a body. It was absolutely covered in bloody marks and scars, mutilated and whipped over a hundred times, the only clothing it wore being a lace bra. Enid gasped when she saw the body was still breathing, although far more shallowly than a human.

Instantly, Enid threw open the cage door. It had no lock- why would it? The person was clearly too injured to move.

“Osper! Come on, we have to get them out of here!” Enid rushed over, kneeling on the stone tile next to the woman bleeding out. “We have to help them!”

Osper just stood at the cage, looking in.

“Osper!” Enid yelled at him louder. “Help me!”

“No.”

It was one word, but a word that shocked Enid to hear. Osper began walking away, much to Enid’s dismay as she got the woman to her feet and put her arm over her shoulder.

“P-Please...” The woman begged. “P-Please... J-Just...”

“It’s okay!” Enid began dragging her with them. “It’s okay... we’re going to get out of here. We’re gonna make it home!”

The girl was no older than Enid was. She was frail, skinny, like she’d been starved. Her right eye was completely destroyed- there was no chance she was getting vision back in it. If Enid herself had poor vision, the blood currently coating the woman from toe to earlobe could’ve just been her skin colour.

“We’re gonna get out.” Enid kept repeating encouraging phrases. “We’ll get out of here, okay? Come on, stay with me.”

As they got in range of the trapdoor, and the wind hit them again, Enid felt the woman violently shiver.

“S-Sun... Light...”

“Yes, that’s right!” Enid had to stop the woman from falling. “Let’s go out into it, okay? Let’s see the sun together, okay?”

“S-Sun... L-Light...” The woman was fading fast. Enid had to almost drag her up the stairs and into the light as they sprawled out together on the grass. The woman faced upright, the sun hitting her and causing her to glisten. “S-So... C-Cold...”

Enid crawled over to her. “Please... don’t go... just keep thinking about what you feel, okay?”

Enid looked up, seeing Osper was waiting a ways away.

“Please... don’t... go.”

Enid gripped the woman’s hand. “I’m right here. Don’t worry... I’m here.”

Enid kept looking directly at Osper, who stood with a bored expression on his face. Something was up. He sighed, scratching his cheek...

As he began walking back over.

**END CHAPTER**


	3. Chapter 2- An Inch From Death

Her breathing was shaky and her bandages were already soaked in blood, but from the nervous twitching of her nightmares it was clear the woman would be pulling through. Osper shut the door rather loudly as Enid rapidly tapped her foot at her.

“Question...” She asked him vulgarly. “What the hell was that about?!”

He sniffed. “Explain.”

“You were going to leave her behind!” Enid snapped back at him. “You were just going to let her bleed out, weren’t you?!”

“The girl was going to die anyway.” He crossed his arms, his height surpassing Enid by half a foot. “We’re essentially cursing her to live longer.”

“You listen here!” Enid jabbed him with her finger, getting unusually angry with Osper’s almost psychotic calmness. “That girl looks like she’s my age! How dare you let a woman like her die?!”

“I never wanted to save her in the first place,” He replied emotionlessly. “The fact she’s even in my home right now is ludicrous to me.”

After having to drag the woman another three blocks, they’d arrived at one of the only buildings still standing. Sixteen floors up was Osper’s home; a home that was being held together by scotch tape at this point, but he didn’t seem to mind. There, he’d patched her up and disinfected her wounds with no recollection of where he’d gotten the stuff to do so.

‘Whoever owned it, it’s mine now,’ He’d said. Enid couldn’t argue with him then, but she sure as hell could argue with her now.

“You’re an asshole,” She called him. “You’d just happily let a girl die right in front of you? What’s wrong with you?”

“Don’t waste my time calling me names,” Osper replied. “You’re only repeating things I’ve heard before.”

That pushed Enid to her limit. “Why can’t you just trust people?!”

“Because the last person I trusted got turned into a Martyr, that’s why!” To her surprise, Osper actually yelled back at her. “I was forced to watch as they got pulled limb from limb by the Nameless for the religion they didn’t even believe in while I FUCKING WATCHED!”

Enid backed away, terrified. The force of his yell had echoed the entire hall, causing the foundations to shake under it. To make matters worse, Osper didn’t calm down as he suddenly walked back into the bedroom with the injured girl and slammed the door as hard as possible.

Enid flinched, hurrying into the bathroom down the hall. She didn’t want him to see her crying, which she did into the sink.

“I’m sorry...” Enid had never been good at apologies. “I’m sorry... I’m sorry... I’m sorry...”

She continued chanting her sorry into the sink as she wiped away unending tears, the pressure having finally gotten too much. She didn’t want the only person who actually put up with her to hate her. That would be a death sentence.

More of a death sentence than being in the Cult’s hands.

She choked out another sob. “I... I...”

However, as she tried to repeat her apology again, she heard something else that caused her to stop. It sounded like... well, it sounded like crying, but far more gentle than hers had been. Probably because it seemed muffled behind something.

Enid looked up at the mirror hanging above the sink...

And her heart dropped.

On the other side of the glass was a boy. He had blonde hair and wore a desert camo t-shirt, and was currently crying into the sink just like she had been. Her eyes widened when she saw that, instead of the hairclip she always wore, he had a ring with the exact same emblem on it.

Enid must’ve watched in confusion for around two minutes. All the while, she studied the background of the mirror and saw that the bathroom was the exact same- granted, the area was mirrored, as expected, but it wasn’t hard to see that it was the bathroom she now stood in.

Could a mirror just... not work? That was the first thought Enid got that snapped her out of her reverie. She almost facepalmed when she thought that, however; of course mirrors couldn’t just not work. If it wasn’t working, it wouldn’t be reflecting anything, let alone a completely different person.

Then, maybe it was a holographic display on the mirror, and it was now just playing a different image... but that wouldn’t work either. Enid severely doubted that Osper was smart enough to wire a mirror to project a different person in it.

... Maybe then, Enid would need to test the theory she didn’t exactly wish to.

With a deep breath... she spoke.

“Hello?”

...

Blair’s eyes snapped open. He looked up at the mirror, having heard the voice loud and clear- well, loud and muffled. On the other side of the mirror was a girl, the same height as he was, with blonde hair and a jungle camo t-shirt. In her hair was a hairclip with the motif that he always wore on his ring. They stared into each other’s eyes for a few seconds, both pairs brown and entirely confused.

When Blair tilted his head, so did the girl. In fact, it was either major coincidence or genuine mirroring because both of them kept doing the same actions at the same time. It wasn’t until the girl shook her head and stomped her foot that the cycle broke.

“Stop doing that!” She yelled at him.

“S-Sorry! Sorry...” Blair held his hands defensively. “B-But... you’re...”

“... Yeah.” It seemed they both knew what was going on now. Somehow... the mirror was reflecting a different version of them. Whether that made Blair her double or her Blair’s double was a topic that he did NOT want to get into.

“M-My name is Blair.” He put a hand on his chest. “What’s yours?”

“Blair?” The girl reacted strangely. “H-Heh... you have the name I was suppose to have if I were a boy.”

“... Then that makes you... Enid?”

It was a solid guess, but it seemed to be correct as Enid nodded. It was so strange... too strange. Blair’s mind was running on overtime as the pair continued to stare at each other in silence.

Then, Enid took out her hairclip. Blair felt compelled to take off his ring. They both held it up to the mirror in unison, showing that the badge that was displayed on it was the exact same, just with the ring’s being a bit smaller.

“... Before my mom passed away, she... made this for me.” Blair shook as he tightened his grip on the ring. “C-Cancer took her too early.”

“... Same with my dad.” Enid smiled sadly, putting the hairclip back in. “He made it for me. It was the last thing he ever made.”

Blair couldn’t help but smile back. “So you’re... me?”

“Seems like it,” Enid said confidently. “But it appears that, somewhere along the line, our lives reversed... while I was born a girl, you were born a boy. Instead of Dad dying, Mom died in your world. And I take it that you never became a Journalist?”

“No... I didn’t want to get stuck in that dead-end job,” Blair admitted. “I became a reporter instead.”

“That was my second option...” Enid gritted her teeth.

“And Journalism was mine,” Blair quoted.

Just when the conversation was about to get lighter, however, that’s when Enid dropped a bombshell.

“Tekcas?”

Blair flinched at the name. “You too, huh?”

“I was supposed to write a story--”

“Me too!” His tone went louder than he expected, and he quickly shushed himself. “I don’t even know what happened... I was in this back alley with this elderly woman and I walked out of it when...”

“You got hit from behind,” Enid correctly assumed.

“Right... and then I was in this room with this man who just... cut the head off this poor woman. And he flirted with me while I slept.”

Enid flashed him a confused look. “Oh... they’re a woman on my side. Blanche?”

“Ivory. They’re called Ivory... at least over here.” Blair rubbed his arm, remembering the things they’d said to him. “He... He tried to violate me, but... He got stopped by this giant monster--”

“The Nameless,” Enid guessed.

“-The Unfinished,” Blair corrected. “It dragged me to a cell and threw me inside, and this guy told me about how this place worked... Before The Unfinished took care of him...”

“And then you met with the leader, right?” Enid took over from that point. “Yeah, I can imagine the surprise that you probably felt when you saw it was only a child... right?”

“Yeah... Xeo?” Blair asked. “Spelt with an X, said with a Z?”

“No, Eon,” Enid replied. “Spelt with an E, said with an A.”

“... What a confusing little world we’ve found ourselves in.” Blair rubbed along his arms again, goose pimples blossoming along his skin. “Just now, we found a boy in the cells on the way out... I wanted to help them, but Juliette didn’t.”

“Juliette?” Enid snickered. “Sorry, I wasn’t expecting that... He’s called Osper here.”

“Osper...? You mean, Oscar?”

“No, Osper.” Enid shrugged. “Speaking of... he’s... not very friendly. What’s Juliette like on your side?”

“Same deal.” Blair sighed. “She’s cold... I guess life has been cruel to them. We just had a major argument, so that’s why I’m here.”

“Same for me...” Enid crossed her arms and sighed. “... Perhaps I should go say sorry... I just don’t know the best way to go about it, you know?”

And like that, the small personality quirks between the pair got revealed. “Oh, I’ve... already said sorry. I was apologising straight afterwards... I’m...”

Blair suddenly teared up again as Enid gave him a weird look.

“I’m... kind of... a coward.” He forced himself to admit it, like he was admitting to murder in front of the police. “I’m scared of everything, Enid. I hate it here... I just want to go home.”

Enid looked around the sink as she realised she was thinking bad thoughts. Shaking them off, she steeled herself and prepared to try and help him through this.

Help herself, through this.

“Blair... you and I both know we’re not going to die here.” Enid was very much a lone wolf type woman- she never felt like she’d need to depend on anyone. Meanwhile, Blair was clearly freaking out and needed emotional comfort, something Enid had never needed nor wanted to give. “Hell, we can just leave. There’s no boundary directly tying us to this damn town... let’s just go, right?”

“... Huh?” Blair looked up, as if he’d forgotten about that.

“Yeah!” Enid smirked at him. “I mean, why bother waiting around? Grab whatever and whoever you want to take with you and get the hell out of there. I’m planning to do the same anyway.”

“But... the others...” Blair looked away for a second.

“Take them with you!” Enid almost demanded. “Don’t take no for an answer! If you have to carry the injured one, do so! We don’t belong here, so we don’t need to be here...”

Suddenly, Osper cried out. “She’s awake!”

“Oh...” Enid looked to the way out. “Blair, I need to go. Stay safe, okay?”

“Wait, Enid...” Blair stopped her. “If... If we don’t... you know... Will you talk to me again?”

“... If push comes to shove.”

That’s all Enid said, waving to him as she walked out of the room. She headed to the bedroom that the injured girl had been left, entering to see that Osper was currently holding the girl at crossbow point. She was terrified, as expected, holding the sheets over her body to hide the fact that the only thing she was wearing was the bandages to cover her cuts and bruises.

“Osper!” Enid jumped into the fray, pushing the crossbow aside. “Come on... Stop it. She’s clearly scared stiff.”

“I’ll do what I want while she’s in my home.” Osper trained the sight back on the girl. “Name and business. Now.”

The woman looked around. She only had one eyes to look around with, the other having been completely destroyed. “I... I...”

“Osper, stop!” Enid grabbed the front of the crossbow, pushing it downwards. “Don’t be rude... she’s gone through enough.”

Osper grumbled, walking back to the seat he’d been sitting in. Enid climbed onto the bed, being careful not to lie on the blanket that she was holding up to her chest.

“It’s okay...” Enid tried to keep quiet. “If it’s not too much... can we have your name?”

“... I don’t... remember.”

Enid swallowed. “Oh... Okay... Well, do you at least remember what happened?”

“N-No...” She curled up tighter, afraid I’d see something I wasn’t looking for. “I just... am...”

Enid sat, crossing her legs. “Hey... it’s okay. My name is Enid... And the big meanie over there is called Osper. We’re the ones who saved you.”

Enid gave Osper a vicious glance. He simply shrugged back.

“We just want to make sure you’re okay.” Enid turned back to the girl. “Is there anything you would... want, to be called?”

Osper growled to himself. “Bandit.”

“Excuse me?” Enid looked over her shoulder at him.

“Bandit,” Osper repeated, louder. “I want her out of my home within the next hour. Don’t wait around.”

Osper left, leaving Enid and the woman to talk.

“Asshole,” Enid spat at him as he left.

“B-Bandit...” The woman repeated the word to herself. “I... I like that.”

Enid sighed. “He meant it as an insult...”

“And now I’m using it as my name.” She extended her hand. “My name is Bandit now. It’s nice to meet you.”

Enid took Bandit’s hand and shook it ever so gently, trying not to hurt her. It didn’t work as Bandit’s face erupted in pain and she shot her hand back, rubbing her palm.

“S-Sorry...” Enid spluttered, surprised with herself. “How badly does it hurt?”

“A lot...” Bandit admitted. “I wish I could rest here a little longer, but... I guess rules are rules.”

“Y-Yeah...” I tried to keep my cool, but sure enough, I boiled over. “Doesn’t he see how injured you are?! This is unfair!”

Bandit shook her head. “He’s just trying to protect himself, Enid... I understand. Just give me a walking stick and I’ll be gone.”

Enid watched as Bandit began putting on clothes, laid out on the bed for her. Osper had been kind enough to do that, at least.

She sighed, helping Bandit to her feet after she was fully clothed, despite wanting to let her rest more. Why did Osper have to do this? Why did she have to leave, when she meant them no harm?

Enid helped Bandit out of the room. She could barely walk by herself... Enid continued to angrily growl to herself as she helped Bandit out and through into the dining room. As they got past the table, however, Bandit groaned, dropping down pitifully.

“Bandit...” Enid helped her up again. “Just sit down. I’ll talk to Osper about letting you stay the night.”

Bandit grimaced, rubbing the back of her neck. “Y-You really don’t have to... I’m clearly a burden. I don’t want to be a nuisance...”

“Just because you’re injured does NOT make you a burden,” Enid clarified. “Now please, just relax. I’ll go find Osper, and...”

That’s when Enid noticed something. In the back of Bandit’s neck, visibly blinking was some sort of metal light. She flinched when her mind went to the one thing she knew that it could be.

“... Is that a tracking device?”

That’s when a massive roar echoed the entire street. Enid ran over to the window to see that down on the street, the Nameless was prowling on all fours, a man sat on his back. The man was missing his arms, strange dark tentacles wrapped around his body like a straight jacket and one around his mouth like a scarf. His hair, much to Enid’s dismay, was a dirty blond that draped around the Nameless’ spine.

Out of nowhere, Osper put a hand on Enid’s shoulder. He gave her a vile look, one that honestly frightened her, but despite her terror Osper didn’t say anything, just walking down the staircase that was to their right.

Enid, almost out of curiosity, followed him down. Osper’s apartment was seven stories up, but from what I saw the Nameless doing earlier I highly doubted it would matter. Osper marched out of the front foyer, straight into the sunlight so the Nameless and his new companion to see him.

“Well, well... if it isn’t the forgotten one.” At least the new guy had a voice box. “Osper Mike... the one who The One Beyond found unfit for his kingdom.”

“Can it, Pathwalker.” Osper growled back. Looks like they knew each other by name. “I choose to leave willingly. The Great Beyond had nothing I hadn’t already seen.”

Pathwalker hopped down from the Nameless’ back, letting the monster straighten to the height it was known for. Up close, Enid could now see that each of the tentacles on Pathwalker pulsed like they were carrying chunks through them, less like a body’s veins and more like a factory’s tubes.

He shrugged. “There’s no use denying when The One Beyond rejects a disciple. After all, your lady-friend knew the risks just as much as you did...”

Osper was entirely unfazed by the attempt to anger him. It caused Pathwalker to blink and look in a different direction.

“I’m sure by now you saw the tracker,” Pathwalker mentioned. “You have taken one of our valuable sacrifices as refuge. We request you hand them back.”

“And I request you formally shove it,” Osper replied harshly. “Eon and I discussed boundaries. Your little freakshow isn’t allowed within half a mile of my home, no exceptions.”

Osper’s hands remained steady on the crossbow. Pathwalker’s eyes darted up and down Enid’s body, making her uncomfortable.

“I leave for an hour to collect our debt from third quarter to find an outbreak of heretics in the first.” Pathwalker used a frog like tongue to push down the scarf-like tentacle he wore, revealing his mouth beneath the slimy exterior.

“Prisoners,” Osper corrected. “You can’t claim a person is a heretic if they never obeyed your tyrannical law to begin with. Now do me a favour and get. Lost.”

Enid gulped as the Nameless growled deeply as his smile widened. From what Enid could see, which was a lot, the Nameless showed no signs of damage from getting up-ended through the chin.

Pathwalker had cracking skin like he was a doll, but the slime that coated his body when the tentacles opened was hideously glistening. “If you don’t mind, Osper, we’ll be taking the girl. She doesn’t belong to you.”

“And she doesn’t belong to you, either!” Enid finally found her voice. “Leave her alone!”

Pathwalker walked on his tentacles. Now that his body was in full view, Enid saw that he indeed didn’t have arms; or legs, as a matter of fact, and his body was more of a skeletal mess than a human body. It whipped around as Pathwalker walked towards her, looking directly into Enid’s eyes from a step away.

“Then who does she belong to, if not the Cult of Tekcas?” He asked calmly.

Enid shivered. She didn’t know how to answer that.

And yet... when she looked at Osper, she saw that he was having a debate in his head. His crossbow remained lowered, but his eyes were too, not in fear but in an internal debate he was having with himself.

Maybe he was trying to think about what he should do. Enid didn’t get a chance to ask as suddenly a thick, black tentacle wrapped its way around her forearm.

Pathwalker made her turn her attention back to him. “Maybe you’re not supposed to be here, either. You should be returning to your cell...”

Enid pulled hard, but only succeeded in involuntarily flexing. “L-Let go!”

Osper looked up, seeing the scene. He just sighed as the Nameless stood by, ready to pounce on him if he tried anything.

Enid was pulled in by another tentacle as Pathwalker remained unnaturally calm. “Come, now. Perhaps we should chip you, too... it’ll keep you in line.”

Then, out of nowhere, a bolt his Pathwalker in the tentacle. It didn’t seem to do any damage, but it must’ve confused him because he let go of Enid. The Nameless also went in for an attack, but Osper ducked under his swing without looking.

“Listen here,” Osper growled. “Don’t think you can just come up to MY home and ask for MY guests as prisoners.”

“G-Guests...?” Enid responded, sitting on the floor.

“So don’t try and test me.” Osper reloaded his crossbow swiftly. “This is my home! So you better back off and find yourself in your little hole before you catch more than a bolt.”

Pathwalker looked to the Nameless, who was all but ready to pounce.

“Tell me...” Osper raised his crossbow again. “Am I a threat to you, Pathwalker?”

Pathwalker replied with a cold smirk. “I have killed you many times.”

“So have I,” Osper replied sharply. “I’ve probably seen my death far more than you have. So tell me... Am I a threat to you?”

Pathwalker wrapped himself back in his tentacles, getting back into the original position he stood. “You could be, in the future--”

“But am I NOW?!” He suddenly yelled, his voice echoing the streets.

“... No, I suppose not.” Pathwalker sighs.

“Then back off.” Osper took a step forwards, and surprisingly, Pathwalker took a step back. “Crawl back into your little hole. Do your rituals and do your time for a God who’ll never respect you. And do me a favour...”

He smirked suddenly. Pathwalker hopped onto the back of the Nameless once more.

“Let someone else try first.”


	4. Chapter 3- An Itch that Needs Scratching

# CHAPTER 3- AN ITCH THAT NEEDS SCRATCHING

“I-I can stay?”

Osper was leant against the cabinets of his kitchen, looking at Bandit with a stern eye. “Until your wounds heal. Then you’re leaving.”

“T-Thank you!” Bandit was appreciative of it anyway. “Thank you, Mr. Osper... I promise, I won’t get in your way...”

“As for you,” He turns to Enid. “You’re going to be leaving. I’m not housing you anymore. You’re a liability.”

Enid crossed her arms. “Yeah, yeah, I hear you. What exactly are you going to do now?”

Osper turns around, going to his cooking that he’d put on while he’d discussed the plans to let Bandit stay. “I don’t know, and I don’t care. Life was far more simple before you lot came along.”

Enid eyed his crossbow, which he’d put on the counter next to his cooking area.

“Let me give you some advice.” Osper dropped a rather shrivelled looking carrot into the cooking pot. “Stay away from the alleys. There’s nothing down there for you, only suffering. Walk straight, and walk out- Leave.”

Enid sighed, her eyes drifting to the backpack that Osper had laid out for her. It wasn’t like she’d need it- all it even had in it was her camera, which she usually kept hanging around her neck anyway, and one singular bandage that couldn’t cover a paper cut with how dried out it was.

“And for God sake... don’t open the coffins.” He turned to look at Enid. “Don’t open them. Don’t look at them, don’t touch them, don’t even think about what each one could contain. They aren’t for you.”

Enid finally broke. “What’s in them?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“But--”

“It DOESN’T. MATTER.” He repeated the sentence far louder, shocking Enid into a lulled state. “The coffins aren’t in the ground where they should be, and that’s something that you’ll have to realise. Every time you open a coffin, you risk the things that happen to everyone else on the daily.”

Bandit rubbed her arms, a sudden chill striking her. “D-Don’t... open the coffins.”

Osper looked to her, his mouth never breaking from the thin-lined frown. Bandit looked up at him in response, her eye watering.

“That message feels...” Bandit averted her gaze from his. “F-Familiar. Like I... I’ve heard it before.”

Osper said nothing, returning to his cooking pot. Enid looked between the two, grabbing her new bag and grimacing at the patch leather used to sew it together.

Enid’s eyebrow rose. Suddenly, she noticed something else on the bag- a pink rabbit keychain, one that she toyed with while looking to see that Osper hadn’t turned around.

“Osper...” Enid felt a strange chill as she prepared to ask him the question. “Who... Who does this bag belong to?”

Osper paused, almost cementing himself in the position he’d been standing. The small bubbling of the pot was the only thing to fill the room as Enid stood there, waiting for his answer that never came.

“Osper...” Enid went to repeat her question.

“It was hers.”

The answer came quick, but definitely not quick enough for Enid to miss it. However, she didn’t quite understand. “W-What...?”

“It was hers, okay?” Osper’s voice went incredibly low. “Just take it and go.”

“Who did it belong to?” Enid knew she was pushing her luck now. There was no way Osper would answer that question, but... “Was it... Was it who I--”

“Drop it.” The way Osper responded almost made Enid drop the bag in fear, but that wasn’t the way he meant it. “Get out of my home.”

Enid’s eye twitched. “It was your girlfriend’s, wasn’t it?”

All at once, Enid experienced something that she’d never felt before.

Enid experienced regret, and heavy regret at that. She could tell she’d messed up because she saw Bandit’s face twist into an indescribable expression, somewhere between fear, anguish and the sentence ‘Run for your life’. Meanwhile, Osper stood statuesque, the only proof he hadn’t been traded out for one being the slight twitch of his finger as he drummed the chopping knife he’d been using.

“I...” Enid took a gentle step backwards, feeling the floorboards creak slightly. “I’m sorry, I... I shouldn’t...”

And then, like a bullet, Osper had grappled her by the neck, slamming her into the wall next to the exit to his apartment. After letting her go for a second, he then elbowed onto her neck, holding her in place as he pointed the chopping knife a millimetre from her eyeball. She could only shake worriedly, kicking her feet around pathetically as she hovered a good inch above the ground.

“P-Please--”

“Don’t.” Osper’s voice was a growl now as he continued staring right at her face, looking at nothing in particular. “ _Ever_. Mention. Her. Again.”

“I-I didn’t...” Enid scrambled at his elbow, her throat feeling like it had been closed with a rope. “I can’t... breathe...”

Osper dropped her, but not before his eye twitched violently. He walked away from Enid, returning to what he was making, the helpless Bandit having no way to insert herself into the situation. Enid steadily got back to her feet, coughing and spluttering, while Osper continued cutting up whatever he had been before the situation happened.

Enid said nothing more, hurriedly putting the backpack on and rushing down the staircase with tears in her eyes. All the way down, she kept repeating to herself that she’d done nothing wrong; that she’d only hit a touchy subject, that she’d only set him off on accident.

But there was a small, niggling feeling in the back of her head that made her realise that she’d done it on purpose. She had plenty of opportunities to step back, to stop talking to him, but she’d pushed too far and had gotten rewarded for asking stupid questions.

Enid sat on the last stair of the staircase, pulling the backpack and looking at the keychain again. She didn’t want to leave. She didn’t want to go without saying goodbye, but she doubt Osper wouldn’t attack her for coming back.

It was while she was playing with the keychain that she found that it opened. Curious, she opened it, seeing that inside was a picture- one of those pictures you’d usually keep in your wallet to remind you of your family. Inside was a pair of people that were clearly Osper and his girlfriend, both of them looking exactly as she’d expected them too.

Of course, Enid should’ve seen that Osper had always been rather ‘punk-rock’ with his appearance, and his girlfriend matched him perfectly. They were a pair of Goths, like if a crow had dated a raven, but with one big change in Osper’s appearance- the fact that he was beaming with a smile as he and his girlfriend posed in front of what looked like a waterfall.

Osper’s hair wasn’t grown over his eye in the picture, either. Instead, an eye patch was being used to cover up whatever hid underneath. So if it wasn’t fashion, then... What had Osper been hiding? Enid knew the answer would never appear, so she didn’t care. Instead, she stood up, pulling the straps of the backpack back over her shoulder blades and walking out of the building.

“Stay away from the alleys,” She repeated to herself. “Walk in a straight line.”

Despite Osper’s outburst, Enid could only repeat what he’d told her. She trekked down the street, only looking down each alley with the slightest curiosity to see if he was right with his advice. Sometimes, the smell of copper and rot hit her nostrils, but that was more a deterrent than something that brought her closer. A small scream would echo down them sometimes, but she didn’t pay any mind to them.

She was just going to leave. That was the idea. She’d been here, what, five hours? That wasn’t even slightly enough time to keep her ‘hooked’ like her advisor had repeated endlessly to her. She wasn’t even lost- she recognised the bar instantly, and used it as a landmark to get to the entrance of the city.

However, when she turned to the entrance, she was met with a frightening sight.

There was a coffin. Just... lying there. In the middle of the road. It was sunset- people were shambling along the street, minding their own business. One even climbed directly over it like it was nothing more than a roadblock. It wasn’t like it couldn’t be avoided- there was an entire sidewalk’s length on either side of it- but Enid’s breath shuddered as her legs rooted themselves about seven steps from it.

The second she stopped in place, the rest of the street did too. She took a step forwards, and the rest of the street followed in her movement, their heads turning towards her as she gulped.

It was like the entire street was expecting her to open it. However, she knew better, and forced her legs in a different direction, walking around the wooden death box. The second she made it around it, the street returned to normal, the people walking along like it was nothing.

She sighed deeply. Just a coincidence. No need to get so worked up about it. She walked towards the exit once more, only giving the box on last look as she went.

She looked back at thin air.

Her feet didn’t stop moving as her brow furrowed, and she looked back to the exit to suddenly go head over heels after tripping over something. She groaned, having hit her head pretty hard, but she managed to slug herself back to her feet before dusting herself off and looking to see what she’d fallen over.

Of course, her blood ran cold when the coffin she’d just walked around was now laying on its side from the impact she’d hit it with. She scurried backwards, getting up and trying to walk in the opposite direction before she looked back to see that the coffin was now in front of her, and she was the same number of steps she’d been away from it the first time.

That included the entrance to the town, too. She’d been pulled back thirty steps without even realising it.

She took a deep, horrified breath. Her shoe tapped on the back of the other coffin as she stepped back, but when she looked it was already gone, and turning back showed it had teleported in front of her again. Now there were two coffins, one on top of the other, about half the height of Enid. She bit her lip as she rounded the coffins again, never taking her eyes off her way out and walking towards it with paced steps.

When she did take try to step forward after the first two steps, she ended up staying place until she took another one. It was like she was on a conveyer belt, with the city asking her to walk in place for a few steps before letting her step forwards.

It was only after she took eight steps to move forward one that she realised what was going on- she was now walking in the Fibonacci sequence, the sequence that added the first number to the new total. So, in the Fibonacci sequence, the pattern starts at 0; 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34... Soon, Enid was taking over a thousand steps just to move forward one more. Her feet ached as the number got bigger and bigger, the city slowly but surely grinding through what was left of the soles of her shoes and her sanity.

But Enid grit her teeth. Enid bore whatever the city was trying to throw in her path, and soon... Enid found herself placing one foot outside the city boundaries. All at once, she collapsed forwards, the weight on her mind extinguishing like a flame in a vacuum, and she stayed in that position on the floor for what felt like hours.

All the while, Enid felt tears drip down her face. The city had violated her mental state, and she could feel the strain that it had caused her. Her feet felt like they were bleeding, and she knew blisters were going to sprout because of it, but she didn’t care. Her eyes turned back to the city, this time knowing she was safe because she was out of the boundaries.

Looking back, she saw the prying eyes of over a hundred men and women. They stood at the entrance, looking out, trapped behind the gate. Enid looked at them all with almost guilty eyes, having done what they had probably been trying to do for days, weeks, months... even decades.

But she didn’t feel bad. She couldn’t put into words, but... she could certainly tell that the way they stood was nothing but malice.

If they could move through that barrier, Enid felt like they’d been dragging her straight back through.

Enid got to her feet. She turned away from the city, feeling her legs move on their own as she walked in the opposite direction, but she didn’t get far- she collapsed soon after, about five steps from when she’d been before.

She was... exhausted. God, she’d never felt so tired in her life. And it wasn’t just her feet; it was like if she was drugged, her mind going fuzzy at the sound of the dirt under her boots. She got up on her hands and knees, and then over onto her rear, looking back at the city once more with a laboured breath.

It wasn’t just tiredness, either... It was thirst. She was so thirsty. She couldn’t breathe, like sand had replaced her saliva, and she was being forced to swallow a thick treacle instead of the water that her spit usually was. Her hands shook as she looked at them, the edges of her vision darkening.

And then, all it once, it hit her.

She wasn’t free. Because to be free... You had to completely rid of the area you ran from.

Enid hadn’t run from Tekcas City.

She’d just run to a new part of it.

Because, now looking around, she saw just how bad it was. Around her was nothingness- not even the city was in her view anymore. She was lost. So, hopelessly lost, with the feelings of four days of walking on her feet and four days lacking of water on her throat. She fell backwards, looking up into the sky, the sun beating down on her as she felt the dried grass on her back.

Enid was... still in the city. That was the thought that kept assaulting her head. She was still in the city- this was all just an illusion, brought on by the city wanting to pretend she was free. Now she saw why Osper had been soon quick to call this place alive; it was, and it was sadistically torturing her for even thinking she could escape it.

With what felt like the last of her strength, she sat up meekly. She had to fight it. There was no way she was getting out this alive if she didn’t fight the hallucinations.

But it wasn’t a hallucination. This was... real. Was it? At this point, Enid didn’t know. She just wanted to sleep, but she knew she wouldn’t wake up if she did. Got to keep awake. Can’t let them get to her.

She got to her feet, almost taking a combat stance to fight, but then remembered that she was in the middle of nowhere again. She slipped slightly, but got up just as quickly, holding herself to make sure she didn’t fall again. The world was spinning, like she’d popped her ears and one of them had gotten stuck. She held back vomit, spinning around to see if she could find the way out.

She had to fight.

She had to. For whoever was at home...

... That’s when she paused. She gulped, thinking as hard as she could, but... try as she might... she couldn’t remember anyone specific. It wasn’t like she completely missing them from memory, either- she had all her memories with her Boyfriend, and her Advisors, and Mom and Dad. She could remember their favourite colours and their likes and dislikes, and even remembered that it was Dad who made her the hairclip before he died.

But that’s where the memories stopped. Specifics just... vanished. Names, ages and occupations. All she could do was call them by how she knew them; Mom, Dad, Advisor, Boyfriend.

But their names remained fresh in her head. Osper, Bandit... Blanche, Xeo. The Nameless.

That’s when Enid finally vomited. She’d been lost in her mind too deeply that the dizziness had crept up on her, and she had no time to stop herself. She screamed as she looked to the sky again.

The sky seemed fake. The sun, a sunlamp. The grass was nothing more than green hair that wrapped around her fingertips like it was alive and waiting for her. She had to stop herself from collapsing into it and letting it drag her into the floor. Her eyes closed for a second too long and she puked again.

Then, when she looked up, she finally saw something. Something that, despite what had been told to her, gave her hope she didn’t know she had.

A coffin lay just off the path, just begging her to open it. She didn’t hesitate- her legs felt like molasses as she waded towards it, ignoring the screaming voice for her to stop. With one hand on the lid and the other undoing the latch, she threw the top open to find it was packed to the brim with water bottles.

... Water. It was just what Enid wanted. She quickly grabbed open, yanking off the top of the bottle and preparing to drink her fill.

But that was as far as she got before she paused.

Water was... just what she needed. And a coffin appeared to... give her that.

... Enid dropped the bottle.

All at once, the bottle smashed onto the floor despite being plastic falling on grass. The liquid that poured out of it began dripping upwards into the sky, all that it touched suddenly rotting away to reveal concrete. Enid resisted a scream that she knew would just make things worse as she stepped backwards as the liquid revealed that, sure enough, everything she’d done was for naught.

She was in the city still. And not even close to the entrance- she was behind the fence in the back alley of some random street, the coffin she’d seen as salvation containing little glass bottles of kerosene. Had Enid drunk even a fraction of it, she’d have died. There was no other way to look at it.

The field she’d been in wasn’t a field- it was, as she expected, just the alley covered in hair spray painted green. She was almost about to question it when she saw exactly why she’d been hallucinating in the first place.

A needle tip stuck out of her left forearm, probably having been slipped into her while she’d been focused on getting out of the city. The light of the sun was a stage light, shone directly on Enid to encapsulate the sun. The sky was a painted mural, the clouds now looking more like cotton pickings than water vapour.

But the coffin was still a coffin. It was just painted white.

Enid finally screamed. She screamed like her lungs were about to set alight, which they felt like they were. It wasn’t just her imagination- she was so incredibly thirsty to the point where the kerosene was a pretty close second to water at this point. Her screaming was met with silence, so she used her new found energy to climb the fence out of the alleyway, sprinting through the unknown street.

Her boots finally gave out on her then. She went ass-over-tea-kettle as she went careening down a hill she hadn’t even noticed was there at first, tumbling into a fountain head first, the cool water it produced a shock to the system. She pulled her head out, taking a deep breath, before looking into the fountain and beginning to drink from it.

She’d found a park. The water could’ve been infested with piranhas at this point- Enid would’ve ripped them to shreds.

It wasn’t until she’d drunk her fill and flopped down to cry on the cornerstones that she realised her fingernails were bleeding. Blood coated them in crimson red, brown splotches from where it had dried, like she’d been scratching at the walls of her insanity.

Her new macabre nail polish was second in line to her first problem, that being where the hell she was. It wasn’t like she could ask the residents; the night sky had been out since she’d woken from her figment of the imagination, meaning that it could very well be Christmas now.

She doubted anyone celebrated it here.

And now she was lost- not lost in her mind, granted, but lost nevertheless. Part of her just wanted to give up, to lie down on the grass and sleep it all away, but she knew that was nothing but a death sentence. She was a fugitive, on the run from a bloodthirsty cult.

Why didn’t it feel that way...?

Before Enid could question herself further, she realised there was only one person now who could save her. She washed her face and her hands as quickly as she could, colouring the water slightly, before standing up and adjusting the straps to her bag that she still had on her somehow.

Time to run.

**END CHAPTER**


	5. Chapter 4- Return to Basics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING:
> 
> Suicide  
> \---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

# CHAPTER 4- RETURN TO BASICS

Enid skulked through the streets, keeping close to the pavement but not on it. She was walking around in the dead of night, which probably didn’t help with how scared she felt, but lost in the middle of a silent city was probably a fate better than a few other locations she’d been hard-pressed to avoid.

Putting a small marker down in the form of a clump of dirt, she leant against what seemed to be a shop window. She was tired, but wasn’t about to admit that to her body which threatened to put her down for a night’s rest in the middle of the road, so she had to find somewhere to sleep.

Of course, it didn’t help that she felt something was watching her. She looked into the shop window, half-expecting to see something, but all she got back was her dusty reflection.

It wasn’t Blair... maybe she could only see him in mirrors.

She pondered aloud as she continued walking. She wondered if Blair was in the same mess she was, walking down the streets of a once mythical city, terrified of his own shadow as it flickered in the streetlamp. Who knows; maybe he’d escaped, and she was left to march down open roads without as much as a companion.

Of course, that didn’t mean she didn’t have a follower. As she walked, she felt a pair of footsteps walking in tune with her own, which she stopped to listen to. It wasn’t exactly an immediate dread that overcame her; more of something that made her slowly turn around like whatever had been following her was going to be waiting.

A beam of light brightened up the street she’d just walked down from. For a few seconds, she thought it was one of the cult looking for her until it began walking closer and she realised that the ‘flashlight’ was far too high up to warrant even the Nameless holding it. She ducked into a side alley, despite implications, and held her breath as she continued to peek around the corner.

A large, fleshy limb pulled the monster from around the corner. Enid had to resist the urge to vomit as she hid down the alley. That thing was not manmade. There was no way a creature like that could exist in any capacity. It had dragged itself out of the deepest bowels of the Earth and was now taking Tekcas as refuge, because the idea that _thing_ was made by human hands made Enid want to scream.

Enid held her hands over her mouth, eyes widening as the ‘footsteps’ she’d heard had multiplied by over a dozen. She peeked from around the dumpster she’d thrown herself behind, seeing that the creature was just now reaching where she had hidden. All at once, the smell of decaying flesh mixed with freshly baked bread hit Enid’s nostrils.

The monster was over fifteen feet tall. It was practically a wall of flesh, moving along on crab-like legs, one of them mechanical and the front ones with large gorilla like hands on the ends of them. For a second, it paused, looking around the area with a bionic neck like a giraffe’s, examining the street. Enid saw the bionic had another hand, holding the literal spotlight as it twitched around sporadically.

It was looking for her.

Enid barely got her head behind the dumpster when the creature swivelled the spotlight her direction. Enid had only gotten a glimpse of what else was on it- things like a generator and a speaker system caught her eye- but she couldn’t catch much else when a static sound echoed out of the monster.

“EEEEEEnnnniiIIIID?” The being cried out, echoing every surface. Enid’s eyes watered as she resisted the urge to gasp. “IIIIItttttt’SSS MEEEEEE. COOOOooooooMMMMEEE OUUUUUUUT FOOOOOORR MeeeeeeeeeEEEE.”

Enid clutched her hands over her ears instead. It was just taunting her at this point. She barely got a chance to look up when the hand of the monster slammed onto the dumpster and pulled the hulking flesh into the alley, blocking all outside light, and the spotlight stretched over the top of the dumpster to search around.

In a split second, Enid grabbed the nearest garbage bag and pulled it over the top of her, hiding behind it as its sleek black design lit up from where the light hit it. It was big enough that Enid could fit completely behind it, but not big enough that whatever was inside of it completely enveloped her. She held on for dear life as it grabbed onto the bag, threatening to rip it open.

“OI!” Suddenly, a man’s voice echoed the alley. “What’ve I told ya ‘bout comin’ round these parts?!”

In an instant, the monster let go of the bag, turning to the sound of the noise. Enid peeked out to see a man in his seventies, not like the one who’d she’d tried to interview but well-built in shape. He clutched a shotgun by the neck, waving it as he yelled at the monster.

“Go on and get, ya tosser!” The man continued. “Ain’t none of yer kind allowed ‘round here! Made that clear, didn’t I?!”

The monster backed away, threatened. Enid took that chance to peek her head out, seeing that it was now completely out of the alley.

“I ain’t seen the girl!” The man looked directly at Enid as he said that, a toothy grin showing he was happy to lie for her. “Enid ain’t here! Now GET!”

With a wail like a siren, the monster ran away, and Enid pulled the bag away completely to show her sniffling form.

“Now...” The man extended a hand. “Come. Get yer rear inside, lass.”

Enid didn’t care if this was a trap. Anything to be rid of that thing.

As she entered and the guy locked the door behind them, she turned as if ready to express gratitude. “I...”

“Enid, yeah, I figured.” The man put the shotgun back over the top of the door where he must’ve grabbed it from. “Name’s Ross! Been part of this here city for twen’y years!”

Enid waited for him to continue, but realised that’s the point she needed to talk. “T-Thank you... how did you know that yelling at made it go away?”

Ross replied with a uproarious laughter. “Ah, lass! I’ve been fightin’ these things since you were a seed in yer father’s ballsack!”

The vulgar statement caused Enid to blush, which made Ross laugh even harder, and he walked up the stairs to his apartment before pushing his way in. Enid followed, finding that he lived in a quaint little one-story apartment, much like Osper, just on the floor above the lobby area.

Enid looked for somewhere to sit down. Ross pointed out a mustard coloured couch which she took tentatively, crossing her hands over her legs as he went to the kitchen area and began fixing a drink.

“You one of those... sparkling water girls?” He asked.

“If... you’re implying I like sparkling water... then yes.”

Ross fetched her a bottle, tossing it to her without warning, and she barely caught it. She undid the cap and drank deeply, forgetting her manners for a second.

“So!” Ross plopped down in the rocking chair across from her. “What brings ya to Secon’ Quarter?”

“Second... huh?” Enid put the now empty bottle down.

“Secon’ Quarter! City’s split in four of ‘em, hence t’ name.” Ross began rocking. “I take it ya came from Third if yer a new arrival.”

Enid didn’t understand, but nodded anyway.

“In that case...” He leant in suddenly. “Ya tried to ‘scape, didn’t ya?”

Again, Enid nodded, but not in confusion this time.

“Ah, that explains it.” He leant back again. “I was t’ same as ya, actually. Tried my hand at runnin’. Came up ‘ere t’ ‘scape the retirement life. Used to be able to name every single one of my squad back in the War!”

Enid bit the inside of her cheek to let him continue.

“Then the weird stuff caught up with me.” He went into a sort of reminiscence. “Tried t’ head out on my offroad’a. Next thing I know... wake up with two fresh cuts ‘n’ a warnin’ from locals.”

“And you forgot their names...” Enid said gently.

“Ah, yer a quick lass!” He chuckled as if it were a joke. “Yep! Forgot every last one of their names... but not who they were.”

Enid nodded again. It was all she could do. “That’s why I don’t remember them... Mom, Dad, my Advisor...”

“But ya rememba the ones in the city, don’t ya?” He tapped the side of his head. “Name’s still fresh, like t’ smell a toast.”

“... Are there more of you?” Enid asked.

“More in Secon’ Quarter?” He guessed.

“More like you...” Enid corrected. “More people willing to save others.”

“Well, ‘fraid not!” He replied suddenly. “Secon’ Quarter’s got some right whack jobs! Ya just found yer way to the least Whack jobbiest of ‘em all.”

“... Thank you for saving me.”

He scoffed. “Savin’ ya? Nah, lass... Savin’ ya would’ve been killin’ ya right there m’self.” He settled back into his rocking chair, closing his eyes.

Enid eeped. Ross didn’t seem like he was joking. However, it wasn’t like he was going to make a move to do anything, so Enid finally broke down and let out a sob she’d been holding onto.

Ross opened an eye. “Why ya cryin’, lass?”

“I...” Enid felt selfish saying it aloud. “I don’t want to be here. I want to go home...”

“Ya really think the city wants that?” Ross got back up. “After all, ya still here when ya tried t’ ‘scape.”

Enid thunked her head down onto the sofa’s armrest as Ross walked over to the kitchen half of the apartment again, doing something she didn’t notice.

“There has to be. There has to be a way out of this. We can’t just be trapped forever... there has to be a way out.”

Enid’s reverie was interrupted by the slapping of paper on the coffee table in front of her. She bolted upright, ready to be yelled at, when Ross went and sat next to her, spreading out the yellowing parchment that he’d drawn on.

On each piece was some sort of plan. A map, a hit list and another weird drawing sat on one side of the desk while a few character sheets filtered on the right. Eventually, Enid and Ross were looking at the information with different versions of the same emotion.

“Here’s the idea.” Ross suddenly went into an explanation. “You got the Four Quarters, holdin’ everything in this city t’gether. Ya take out the Cult workin’ in t’ sewer and you only got t’ city to deal with. Problem is, the public’s been brainwashed inta thinkin’ t’ Cult’s a good thing, and will actively obey their orders.”

Enid listened along once more.

“So I figured out somethin’.” He pointed his finger at the weird drawing. “Everyone who goes down that pipe in Fourth Quarter never comes back up. So I assume that’s t’ place they make their sacrifices.”

Enid gulped. “To?”

“To T’ One Beyond.” He probably said ‘The One Beyond’, but his accent prevented the full name. “They claim followers get t’ live with ‘im. Bunch a bull if I ever heard it.”

Enid then countered. “So what does this have to do with our situation?”

“Well, t’ Cult probably ‘as a point.” Ross used his hand to leaf the character sheets out. “These five run t’ Cult. Even one of ‘em goin’ down gotta make ‘em weaker, right?”

Enid looked at them, and found she recognised them all... except one. Eon, Blanche, Pathwalker and The Nameless were all immediately identifiable, but the fifth one hadn’t even been mentioned.

Someone by the name of ‘Killian.’ His bored expression told Enid all she needed to know about him.

“I know this lot personally by now.” Ross taps each one. “The Nameless comes ‘round every so oft’n to collect rent, if ya catch my drift.”

“Who’s Killian?” Enid asked. “I haven’t seen him before.”

“Ah, the birdbrain.” Ross chuckled, and then hit himself with his palm in the forehead. “Ah, shouldn’ give ya the idea he’s stupid. Guy’s wicked smart... able to figure out things far quicker than any regular guy.”

Enid tutted. “If he runs the cult, there’s no chance we’ll be able to convince him he’s the bad guy...”

“Ya can’t hurt these guys, y’know.” Ross stated the obvious. “Even the kid’s got some freaky regeneration crap. T’ One Beyond ‘parrently blessed ‘em with eternal life.”

There was a little pause as Enid remembered The Nameless’ ability to come back from a fatal wound like it was nothing and shuddered.

“Thing is, all of ‘em gotta have a weakness. It’d make no sense if they were just invincible. That ain’t how life works.” Ross drummed the table.

“You say that...” Enid pointed out the window. “And something like that thing appears. That isn’t possible in human life.”

“Who, Clyde?!” Ross laughed. “The local street cleaner’s not involved in all this, lass!”

Enid looked out the window to see she’d, miraculously, pointed at some random guy on the street, mopping like he was cleaning his house. She groaned. “You know what I meant. That thing with the spotlight for a face.”

“Ah, Wefruc! Yeah, that thing ain’t human, though.”

“And neither is The Nameless,” Enid quipped sulkily.

Ross realised she was getting depressed, so he changed the subject. “Ya see, all the Quarters’ got some sort of Guardian. A human being who ain’t lost their noggin yet. I’m this Quarters’ Guardian- First and Fourth got their own, too.”

“What about Third?” Enid questioned.

“Ah, well, Third’s don’t like to be in t’ spotlight, pun not intended.” He chuckled. “After all, t’ guy lost his girl a while back! Hasn’t been quick the same since--”

“Osper.”

It hit Enid all at once that Ross was talking about Osper. He looked up at her, nodding, which only made her more angry with herself for not realising sooner.

“Yeah, that’s the guy!” Ross laughed. “He’s loopy ‘n’ all! Claims bein’ alone’ll help stop going crazy. Don’t he know that’s how ya develop multiple voices?”

Enid stood up suddenly. “I have to go back.”

“Back?!” Ross also stood. “Lass, ya already tried ‘scaping--”

“Back to Third Quarter!” Ross corrected herself. “I need to get back to Osper... I can tell him about this plan, and we can...”

Ross sighed. “Lass, you don’t have a snowball’s chance. Wefruc’ll be all over t’ street looking for ya! Ya better rest ‘til mornin’ at least!”

“I’d rather shit in my hands and CLAP!” Enid got furious in a matter of seconds. “This isn’t about me anymore! This is about the fact that there are OTHERS who want the same things as me and they can’t do anything about it because they don’t have the support!”

Ross almost seemed startled by the way she was talking. “Alright, calm down lass! Look... I wanna help ya get back t’ Third Quarter, but we’ll have t’ go in the morning because of Wefruc.”

“Can’t we just...” Enid waved her hands about. “Sneak past it?”

Ross grumbled. “Lass. Morning. No need to rush things.”

Enid realised he was right. “Alright. I... I don’t have anywhere to sleep, so...”

Ross nodded. “Ya can crash on the couch! I won’t be usin’ it.”

With that, Ross headed to the bedroom of his apartment as Enid spent the next hour trying to get comfortable. She wasn’t expecting to actually get any sleep, of course, but it didn’t help to try.

As she lay stomach down, face facing the rocking chair, she thought about what she’d been told. The sanest person in each of the Quarters was anointed as the ‘Guardian’. That meant that, in the Second Quarter, Ross was the sanest, but that also meant that Osper was seen as the sanest of the Third Quarter.

It was a weird system for sure. It wasn’t like she could just question it, though... for all she knew, Ross had just made it up, but whatever. At this point, he did seem to be the only person who could help her through this.

Then, a curious notion popped in her head, and she found herself replaying the final sentence Ross had said to her in her head.

_“I won’t be usin’ it.”_

Enid instantly sat up. It might’ve just been her imagination, but she felt a very harsh twinge of fear hit her at that moment. She got up, walking to where Ross’ bedroom was and rasping the door.

“R-Ross...?” She paused. “You still awake?”

No response. Enid wasn’t the kind to snoop, but she immediately got the hard stone of doubt in her stomach and pushed open the door in a panic.

And then she crumbled backwards, crawling away from the door, as Ross’ hanging body swayed gently in the wind of his window in front of her. She instantly rushed to his side, grabbing his legs to try and give him leverage, but the cold skin that she felt instead was clear he’d been dead for far longer than a few minutes. The dull, bloodshot eyes and macabre smile on his face should’ve proved that enough.

Enid backed away slowly, choking back tears, looking around the bland bedroom for any sign that he hadn’t done this to himself. She turned away when she got back through the doorway of his bedroom, seeing that a calendar was on the wall next to his room.

Sure enough, time hadn’t changed. It was December 25th, at least to the calendar’s black crosses, with something written in the box. Enid had to peer closer to see what it said exactly.

“DAY OF DEATH.”

Enid hated herself. She hadn’t even noticed. She hadn’t noticed that Ross had been building up to this. Maybe he’d seen it coming; he’d clearly planned for this day, so perhaps there was something else in his head at the time.

Perhaps he’d written in on earlier that night when Enid hadn’t been looking. Now she had the information he’d passed on, he was satisfied with life.

Or maybe he was just done. Who knew?

Whatever the reason, Enid knew she couldn’t just leave him there. She grabbed the nearest kitchen knife to her, walking back into the bedroom with adverted eyes before cutting away the rope and lowering his body to the floor. Enid put his body in the most respectable way she could, which was the way they put mummies in their sarcophagi- on their back, feet pointing upwards, arms crossed to touch the opposite shoulder.

It wasn’t like she could go bury him outside.

Despite really, really wanting to.

Enid closed the door to his bedroom silently before rushing over to the coffee table. His drawings and plans were still there, so she grabbed them and put them in her backpack carefully as not to crumple them.

Her eyes welled with tears as she thought more about what she’d lost. Not only had she lost an ally against the city, she’d lost someone who she could see as a friend, too. Sure, he’d been loud, but he’d been interesting, and his life had probably been full of stories he’d be willing to share.

But now he was gone. A life, wasted because it couldn’t be spent outside of the city. Enid felt the sadness turn to anger as she ripped up the backpack and slung it over her shoulder.

Of course, then she turned to face the way out, and her blood ran cold when she saw the coffin sitting in front of the entrance. It was the exact same one she’d seen on her way out of the city; an old oak coffin with no more than five years of age to it. Brand new, like it was expecting her to hop inside.

Then, in her mind, she got an idea. One that, despite being the worst thing she could do, made a little more sense that letting Ross’ body rot in the bedroom he’d died in. She quickly hurried over to his room, opening the door and gently dragging it to the coffin.

With one hand on the lid and another on the latch, she opened it wide.

And inside, the Nameless sat upwards, grabbing her around the throat with a devilish grin.

She choked. The Nameless was far too strong for her to escape from; he took his time swivelling both legs out of the coffin that seemed far too small to fit his ample frame. She was lifted high into the air, right into his smile which smelt of rotting flesh and discarded bone, and the puff of hot air made her want to hurl.

Poor choice of words, considering The Nameless’ next order of business was to hurl her- out of the window, down ten feet to the street below where she landed awkwardly on the broken glass.

She screamed in absolute agony when she felt her foot snap ninety degrees sideways. She looked up at her foot, seeing bones had pushed through. She panicked, her hands shaking as she reached for her foot, but stopped herself when the Nameless jumped out of the same broken window to fly at her with his bladed arm.

To say what happened next was a tragedy disguised as a miracle was an understatement. Out of nowhere- truly, nowhere- Wefruc barrelled in from the left, snatching Enid with one of its giant hands and carrying her down the street with impeccable speed. Enid felt her ribs crush slightly as she looked up, only to be blinded by Wefruc’s spotlight.

“EEEEEENNNNNNIIIIIDDD.... I fffffoooooOOOUUUUnnnddd YOOOOOU....”

The way the voice sounded made Enid realise she wasn’t safe- very much a ‘out of the frying pan, into the fire’ type scenario. Suddenly, she was pressed into Wefruc’s bony abdomen as he launched himself into the air, up onto the ceiling on the building close by. Enid screamed the entire way.

And then, they were skittering across the top of the apartment buildings as Wefruc galloped with a horse-like speed. Enid continued screaming, her eyes closed until they opened, and she screamed again when she saw The Nameless running on all fours to the side of them with that grin he wore at all points.

Wefruc also looked over at The Nameless, but with no way to determine the emotion of the creature it wasn’t sure he felt the same terror as Enid right now. It certainly seemed to speed up in pace, though, as the pair tried to outrace each other over the apartment buildings.

Enid found herself thinking one, very not necessary thought.

_How big is this fucking city?!_

Suddenly, Wefruc was rammed into by The Nameless like a pair of drag racing cars. Enid hugged into Wefruc’s fingers then, realising she was essentially picking the lesser of two evils to rely on. In response, the hulking mass of flesh and bionic material skidded to a halt and kicked outwards with the right three legs, sending The Nameless to the moon in the opposite direction.

Enid swore she saw a sonic boom from where Wefruc kicked out.

“EEEEEENNNNNIIIIIDDDD....”

Enid looked up worriedly as the spotlight remained looking in the direction it launched The Nameless. “Y-You know my name... who are you?”

The monster didn’t reply. Instead, it set Enid down rather violently, damaging her even more. Despite the action taken, however, Wefruc didn’t continue, only staying around long enough to make sure she wasn’t unconscious.

“MMMaaaaaAAAAssssteEEEEER issssss BEEEEEEELOOOOOOW.”

And like that, Wefruc was off, leaving Enid on the roof to solemnly wait for her time to tick down. ‘Master is Below’; that meant Wefruc’s ‘Master’ knew she would be placed here. She didn’t have the strength to move anymore. She just rolled over onto her back and sniffled, the pain having turned into a wildfire up her leg.

The last thing she saw before she passed out...

Was a single black feather, floating in the wind.

**END CHAPTER**


	6. Chapter 5- Like the Downing of a Feather

# CHAPTER 5- Like the Downing of a Feather

Enid’s eyes flittered open to look directly at the ceiling of a bedroom.

She looked around, gently stretching, before flexing her foot in pain. To her surprised, it had been bandaged. She blinked a few times as she tested it on the floor.

A searing pain shot through it. Guess it wasn’t good to walk on yet.

Enid then looked up to see what had been keeping guard of her. Well, there were a few things, actually- iron bars that blocked half the bedroom with an indestructible cage, a door with fifteen different locks on it, a harsh red light above it all that coated the room in the dread of the situation- but the large, ominous raven that sat on the pedestal just outside the cage was the biggest identifier that the person who kept her here was not a nice man.

At least, that’s what she thought, before he walked through into the area behind the cage with a plate of suspiciously bland looking curry and rice.

“Oh... you’re awake.” He opened a flap at the bottom of the door, pushing the meal through. “Sorry about the cage... I can’t risk you getting attacked by the others, you know?”

Enid eyed the plate with hungry eyes. “I, um...”

“Right! The leg...” He used a stick to push the plate over to the bed, giving Enid just enough reach to grab it without spilling the contents. “There we are. Eat up. You probably haven’t eaten anything in a while.”

Enid looked around the cage again. “T-This isn’t like... poisoned, is it?”

“He did say you were untrustworthy...” The man spoke to himself, and then aloud to her. “No, it’s not poisoned. I promise.”

Enid stared at her plate for a bit longer before taking a single grain of rice and swallowing it like a pill. Despite being undercooked, it was strangely refreshing, like she’d not eaten in a week.

Depending on his next answer, she very well could’ve been.

“How long have I been here?” She asked with a wavering voice.

“Oh, about two hours...” He smiled, resting an arm on the cage to lean on. “You’re a pretty loud snorer, you know that?”

Enid noshed down as much as she could in the span of two minutes before putting the half-eaten plate aside to rest her stomach. It was a rather spicy meal, all things considered; it gave her sensation back in her leg.

“I, uh... bandaged your leg,” he pointed, almost as if she didn’t know where her leg was. “Resettled the bone, put it in a cast. Probably won’t feel good for a while, but you’ll get used to the pain... We all do.”

There it was. That small note that he was connected to the city. Enid had wondered how long it would take as he walked over to the raven, running his fingers through the bird’s feathers.

“Who are you?” She asked, returning the plate to her lap.

The man paused, as if he had to think about it. “Divan.”

Enid raised an eyebrow. “Named after the furniture, I’d guess?”

“It wasn’t given to me naturally,” he replied. “I don’t remember what my name was before The One Beyond’s blessing, but I’d hazard a guess and say it wasn’t as stupid as the one I have now.”

Enid felt herself relaxing in his presence. “Hey, I don’t mind... it has sort of that ‘homely’ feel to it, right?”

He looked over his shoulder at her. “W-Was... was that a pun?”

“Just... trying to lighten the situation before I’m sacrificed,” She admitted guiltily. “Because that’s where we are right? Some sort of sacrificial chamber?”

Divan looked pretty confused until he repeated what he said to himself. “Oh, the whole... cult thing. Yeah, no. I don’t do that here.”

She blinked. That was the best reaction she could give without words.

“See, I...” He looked around at the ceiling as if someone were listening. “I don’t exactly... follow the cult anymore.”

“You... don’t?” Enid felt hope spread through her body.

“Well, that’s a bit of a stretch,” he continued. “The best way to put it is, I still follow the religion, but I don’t agree with the teachings.”

Enid didn’t follow. “I... follow?”

He instantly understood that was a lie. “I don’t think that the worship of sacrificing humankind to a man you’ll never directly meet is worth the blood spilt. Even if, now, I’ve met him...”

Enid put her empty plate aside. “You... met The One Beyond...?”

“Again, ‘meeting’ is subversive. I spoke with him, but he never showed his face.” Divan stopped petting the raven, much to the raven’s dismay. “Called me out on my ‘less than appreciable’ ways of obeying him, but told me that he was proud of the progress to his words I was giving. It was...”

He sighed, getting lost in the memory.

“... Odd.”

Enid groaned slightly. When meeting a literal God and gaining subhuman powers was called ‘Odd’, Enid hated the possibility that the person standing in front of her could be considered human under different situations.

Of course, that’s when her voice broke through. “I just can’t believe this is all still happening... It’s impossib--”

“DON’T!” Divan smacked his hand on the cage to stop her speaking. “Say. That word. It attracts them.”

“Attracts...” Enid racked her brain. “The Cult?”

“The coffins.”

Enid zipped her lip immediately.

“They just...” He peeked out the window on his side of the cage. “Appear. Everywhere. They just show up, when you least expect them, and sometimes when you do. And they don’t even do anything- they just APPEAR and... Then it’s up to you to if what happens continues.”

Enid swung her legs over the bed, finally looking at Divan as he put his arm back up on the cage to lean on again. She noticed that it was darker on his side than it was hers, like he wanted to stay out of the light, and the fact she swore she could see feathers on his arms were clear as to why.

“The coffins are sentient,” he continued seriously. “They know where you are, why you’re there, and when they can appear at any time. They’re like little devils all in their own... they pop up and...”

Enid leant forwards, more than intrigued with his story.

“It’s like making a deal.” He pinched his nose with his free hand. “They give you exactly what you want when you need it the most, and you don’t even need to ask. That’s how they get you. That’s how they get everyone. Open a coffin and you’re cursed for life. You’re cursed to forever be in the city.”

Enid gulped. “N-No, that’s not...”

“True?” He finished her sentence. “You’re really going to doubt it after all that’s happened to you? Wefruc and The Nameless didn’t convince you enough that this situation is hopeless?!”

“No, I just...” She didn’t want to deny it, truly. She knew what he was saying, and why she was losing the will to go on. But that part of her just refused to crack. “It’s im- it’s completely inconceivable! This city can’t be deadlocked by such a petty God... right?”

Divan paused again. And then, the next sentence out of his mouth sent a chill down Enid’s spine.

“You really think it’s The One Beyond in control of this, huh?”

Enid knew why that shiver hit her. That meant, in some sick and twisted way... The cult weren’t evil. They were just following the orders of a tyrannical ruler.

She knew exactly what he was referring to as she opened her mouth to speak again.

“The City...” She couldn’t breathe. It was like the very words had used her entire lung capacity. “T-The city is...”

Divan nodded, adding to her breathlessness. “The One Beyond is... well, he’s a cover story, if anything. The One Beyond, like all Gods, was created at the beginning of time to hide its existence from humanity for as long as it could. Stories get passed and shared and religions claim stories for their own, which is how it always gets formed.”

As Enid watched in terror, he walked over to the cage door and began undoing the locks.

“But the City stood before that. It stood before creation. It was known simply as Godhome before we ruined it.” Each sentence seemed to indicate how far he was through the locks, having undone one in the time it took. “It provided the Gods all they need for their power. It fed and watered them in the essential feelings of Hope and Discovery and Amusement and Knowledge. But alongside that, it fed those Lies and Deceit to hold those Gods under its power.”

The door was halfway unlocked. Enid got ready to defend herself if things went that way.

“It was The One Beyond that saw through it. It was The One Beyond who revolted against Godhome, having been gifted the wealth of Knowledge in far too great a slice. But it was The One Beyond who went under that day, drowned under the City’s great power, and The One Beyond- Creation’s Law be damned- found itself kneeling under its rule, long after all other Gods had faded from history.”

Enid looked around the room in silence, trying to find a weapon.

“And to call upon The One Beyond is a mercy in of itself- The One Beyond recognises that there are still people trying to bring him back.” Divan undid the final lock, throwing aside the door. “The One Beyond grants his followers with abilities that don’t exist. He grants them with powers that humanity have only ever dreamed of.”

And then, Divan walked into the light, and Enid found herself gasping and backing away in fear. Not because Divan was a beastly monster like The Nameless, or was clearly insane like the others...

But because, in that second it took his face to shine through the shadow, Enid instantly recognised who it was.

“Y-You’re...” Enid pointed shakily. “You’re... one of the ones... the...”

“Yes...” He smiled sadly. “I’m one of the Leaders. We call ourselves The High Guardians.”

Enid felt threatened by him now, even as he stood there with no more than a solemn gaze.

Now it all made sense. Why Ross had called him ‘birdbrain’.

His arms were covered in feathers, with one of his hands twisted into that of a bird’s claw, complete with the three fingers that acted as talons. His t-shirt had the moult of grey feathers over it, fluffed out and dirty, and his shorts seemed ripped from where ostrich legs had burst from them.

Enid shakily held her hands up in defence. “P-Please... I’ll do anything. Don’t hurt me.”

Divan sighed. “Of course... Well, let me ask you something.”

Suddenly, he extended his human hand to her, showing it had an eye-like scar in the palm.

“Do you trust the word of a good guy on the bad side?”

Enid stopped shivering. “I... I...”

Her hand descended slowly into the palm of Divan... and he shook it with authority.

Then, he grabbed her something from out of under the bed, revealing to be a pair of steel crutches. She took a few steps to get used to them before following him out into the other side of the cage, getting leered at by the raven.

“Oh, before we go...” Divan looked back, hand on the door. “Mind the guests. They’re... rather frisky with new people.”

Divan pushed through into the next room, revealing that behind it was an apartment much like Ross’. Of course, much of the softer parts of the apartment were torn up by talons, and it wasn’t hard to see why- after all, every other free space in the block was housing a bird of its own. Divan sat in between two crows and a couple dozen hummingbirds as he motioned for Enid to sit in the armchair nearby.

Enid did click over, but she saw the seat was currently housing a vulture. “U-Uh... hello...”

The vulture gave her a beady eyed look, as if it couldn’t understand why she was here.

“Carcass!” Divan barked a command. “Let the lady sit.”

‘Carcass’ the vulture nodded in response. It hopped onto the coffee table instead, where it squabbled with the bluebirds occupying it.

“So...” Enid looked around with an almost intoxicating confusion. “Birds.”

Divan nodded as one of the hummingbirds began drinking out of a group of flowers that he had in his hair. “One appears at my door every day.”

Enid looked around. “And you’ve been a High Guardian for...?”

Although Divan didn’t answer, Enid could hazard that there was at least five years of birds in this room alone. Instead, he grabbed her backpack and handed it to her, which she took with graciousness.

“I went through it,” he admitted. “You’ve been busy, huh?”

“Yeah, well, ‘busy’ isn’t the word I’d use.” Enid also admitted her own truth. “I got everything I have from someone else. Osper gave me the bag.”

Divan tilted his head. “Who is that?”

“I...” Enid bit her lip. “I don’t trust you enough to--”

Suddenly, Enid was screaming as a bright white bird attacked the back of her head. Divan growled and got up, detaching the dove from out of her hair, holding it like a microphone.

“Desmond!” He yelled, almost directly into the bird’s face. “She’s a friend, you little dick. Be kind!”

Enid wiped a tear out of her eye. “D-Did he damage my hairclip?!”

Divan looked over to her, but didn’t seem afraid to say the answer. “Nah, he just spooked himself. Must’ve seen your hair and tried to make a nest... your hairs very branchlike.”

Enid was confused if that was a compliment or an insult. “T-Thanks.”

“So...” Divan pat the bird nearby. “What are you actually planning to do?”

It was out of his mouth that Enid could finally understand the weight of the situation. Sure! She could just _kill five members_ of a _highly powerful group_ with over _a thousand apparent backers_ ; but how? The fact that Divan, one of the ‘High Guardians’ was across from her and she couldn’t even bring herself to lift her fist was more than enough proof she had no idea what she was doing.

There was a residue sticking to her eyes. She realised quickly it was dry tears.

“Today, you need to understand something.” Divan went serious as he leant in. “I’m not your opponent. I’m not your rival. But at the same time, I will not stand idle if the cult starts to fall. I owe my life to The One Beyond; many do.”

Enid gulped and nodded.

“And yet...” Divan peeked around before undoing a little satchel and handing her it. “I also won’t let this place fester into an unbeatable war. All it would take is for Eon to pull the trigger, and the Cult turns into a Klan.”

Enid flinched hard at the word. A Klan... It was obvious that Divan was referring to the one she was thinking of.

“S-So...” Enid looked into the satchel, not seeing anything in the shadow. “You’re opposed to me stopping the cult, but you’re willing to help me?”

“I never said I’d help you,” he corrected. “Just that I recognise why you need it. After all... destroying the cult...”

He smirked suddenly.

“Is Impossible.”

Enid paused. “W-Wait... did you...”

All it took was for Divan to look casually over at the coffee table. Enid followed his gaze, finding a coffin had parked itself on it, Carcass the Vulture sitting on top with a crude illusion of what it was used for.

Divan stood up then, and about three of the birds got up with him. “I’m done with the light, Enid. It burnt through me, made me who I am today. So I’ll let you work from the shadows.”

Enid huffed. “What does that mean?”

“It means...” He began walking away. “Take all the time you need. But the second you step out the door... Vanish.”

Enid gulped again. Her mouth was dry, but she wasn’t thirsty. She was scared- more scared than she’d even been in her life- and the birds staring at her didn’t change her mind.

She would have to steel herself if she even wanted to get up from the armchair and put in motion the beginning of the end.

... And she did exactly that, getting up from the armchair with a bleeding nostril. She was terrified, but she wasn’t immunised. She would drag herself across broken glass if it meant getting out of the damn city.

It was Christmas, after all. Time to burn some bridges.

Enid’s hands clasped onto the coffin and threw it open. All at once, the birds around her went into a squawking spree, but she ignored the ear-ringing cries and looked into the coffin to see a few weapons that she could use. Two daggers, a short sword, a pistol with a full clip, two extra clips and a hunting rifle. That was the contents, and that’s all she needed. It all even came with a belt holster, consisting of a strap that went over her shoulder and a cross-strap to hold it in place.

She slipped the daggers into the holster’s belt hoops, put the pistol in the sheath and the hunting rifle on the clasp on the back. She had only ever really dreamt about getting kitted like this in her dreams; she’d never been in the army, never learnt how to shoot or use blades, except in the kitchen. Hell, she was only vaguely aligned with the rules of a gun, the main one being ‘finger off the trigger’.

The birds had kicked up a massive storm of feathers now, so she had to leave. She left the sword behind, hobbling out the door on her injured foot and slamming it behind her. Like he’d said, the lock almost instantly latched behind her, showing Divan was not letting her back in.

With her backpack on tight, covering the rifle, and the new ire of determination in her heart, she set her eyes on her surroundings. Divan’s hidden apartment was on the eighth floor of a random district building, proven by how far down she had to walk, but she was quick down them and into the lobby.

If it wasn’t clear where she was, she was sure when she looked up at the wall above the entrance and saw it. ‘FOURTH QUARTER IS HELL’ was written in blood red lettering, a toppled stepladder and a dead person hanging from the sidelines being the unfortunate writer. Enid made a mental note to pray for him.

With the heavier of first steps, she stepped out into the Fourth Quarter. The street, unsurprisingly, was empty, with the only expectation being a three horned deer lapping at a green puddle nearby. In fact, the entire city had that sort of ‘post-apocalyptic’ sense to it- half the buildings were still burning, the wooden thatching visible under coal-black bricks, and the street was paved in blood and garbage untouched for many weeks.

Enid leant on the nearby bench, giving her foot some rest. She hadn’t had time to collect the crutches; any longer in the bird’s nest and she’d have gone insane. Of course, she knew what had happened to Fourth Quarter. This is where ‘They’ lived. The Cult. The High Guardians.

This was their neck of the woods, and she was in the thicket.

Then again, she’d escaped their clutches before. Granted, she’d had... help... but she’d been all but willing to do it alone.

... Oh, who was she kidding?

She sat on the bench, the groan of pressure making her fear it’d snap. Osper had been her saviour then. He’d been her saviour a few times; able to give her advice that she’d... been breaking, a lot.

Enid was up the creek with no paddle on this one. She needed to find how far in she was before she could even think about getting out... Third Quarter had been to the left, so if she kept walking that direction she’d probably...

Her eyes drifted that way. In the single second she’d seen it, the terror that gripped her was almost fatal when her heart skipped two beats and she did a double take to look back at what she thought she’d seen.

Nothing.

Enid swallowed. Another illusion of the coffins. She really had to stop opening them... for a second there, she swore she saw some sort of... mannequin.

Enid looked forwards again-

And promptly threw herself backwards, over the bench and onto the sidewalk when a mascot stood in front of her. All she’d caught were the big, bulbous eyes and far-too-many-teeth wide smile for her to tumble.

And again, when she looked to where it had been, she was met with thin air. She stood up, the pain in her foot completely dampened by the terror in her lungs. She wanted to scream, lord knows she did, but she couldn’t risk attracting people to her area.

And then she bumped into something.

Her eyes drifted skyward with the speed of a snail, and looking down on her was... Well, it was like if a Mascot from some sort of baseball game got dunked in acid and stitched back up with human flesh. Giant, bulbous eyes stared at her, unblinking, and the smile split up to his sideburns, a hundred blocky teeth flashing at her. Blood dripped from under the head he wore, pouring down the front of his shirt like a crimson waterfall, and it held a pitch black balloon with the word ‘Suffering’ on it from where the other words has been scribbled out.

Needless to say, Enid finally got locked in place. She was so afraid that she couldn’t even breathe correctly. It just stood there, staring at her with the dead expression of false happiness. It took a few seconds before it crumbled downwards, revealing it was indeed just an empty suit.

An empty suit that was capable of standing on its own and teleporting, but... just a suit.

Enid tried to move, and a warm liquid dripped down her leg. She looked down, an embarrassed blush emerged on her face when she realised she’d peed herself without realising it.

Panic. That’s the word she fought to not make an emotion. She hobbled away from the suit, looking back at it every three steps to make sure it hadn’t moved.

When she was around fifty steps out, and she looked back again, she saw it had stood up again, now staring at her with balloon still in hand. No, not the same balloon- a completely different one, with the word ‘Pain’ being the only word on it.

Dear God, she hoped whoever made that thing real was burning in hell.

**END CHAPTER**


	7. Chapter 6- One Minute

# CHAPTER 6- One Minute

It’d been following her for a while now.

Enid knew that the creature was following her. There was no better way to put it- it wasn’t stalking or watching her, but it was definitely following. Not exactly behind her, either- every so often, it’d disappear from the street and watch her from the windows, holding the damn balloon with pride.

The wide smile sent a shiver down her spine. Something was seriously off with it.

When the sound of voices echoed up the street, Enid ducked into the nearby alley. She’d had to do that sometimes- she was right to not trust the voices, considering every single one had been a cultist so far.

It was here that she finally got to see what this cult was actually like. They all wore a familiar purple cloak and spoke in a tongue that she didn’t recognise, some with their hoods pulled up and some showing their scarred, damaged faces. This time around, however, Enid has to make absolutely sure she was out of view, because she recognised the voice.

Specifically, the female voice of Blanche.

“Has anyone seen them?” Blanche asked one of her followers.

“Not yet, ma’am!” The boastful voice of a male responded. “We’re charging the All-Watchers. They’ll be ready in a few hours, at most.”

“We’re using half the city to charge them!” She stopped directly in front of the alleyway that Enid crouched in, so she slid behind a dustbin that smelt of ash and rot. “You can’t charge those freaks any faster?!”

“Not without shutting down the Omni-generator--”

“Of course.” Blanche huffed. “You’re lucky you’re cute. If you have to, divert the power to the one and get him up and running and charge the others overnight...”

Enid took a small breath, but as she did Blanche continued.

“Oh, it’s you.”

The voice seemed directed down the alley. Enid looked to where she’d talked to see the damn mascot, standing there looking down the alley to where Blanche must’ve been.

“God, that thing’s so creepy...” Blanche tapped her heel. “Yes, hello! I know you’re there. What the hell do you want, weirdo?”

And then...

His neck cracked to the left, and down to Enid. Enid shook her head pitifully, silently begging him not to say anything, but that’s all it took for Blanche to suddenly begin walking over in confusion.

Enid acted upon what she had to do. Using the strength she had, she kicked the suit in the knee to make it collapse before Enid slid out of her hiding spot, attempting to run in the other direction.

Of course, Blanche was far closer than Enid predicted and found herself getting grabbed around the neck by a manicured hand.

“Well, well, well...” Blanche smiled at her, lifting her off the ground with freakish strength. “Divan said we’d find you around here.”

Enid beat at Blanche’s hand with pitiful fists, her breathing getting ragged and shallow. “S-Stop... P-Please... Can’t breathe...”

“Isn’t it wonderful, boys?” Blanche looked to the two other cultists that were following her. “We came out here looking for copper, and we found ourselves some gold... Well, I suppose The Mascot found her for us.”

As she spoke, Enid’s hand felt its way down her thigh for one of the knives she’d taken with her. As she grabbed the hilt of the knife and pulled it from her trousers, Blanche looked back to the way she had Enid in the air.

Enid thrust the blade of the knife into the eyeball of Blanche. It caused her to yelp and drop her, but Blanche wasn’t fully out of it; she twirled into a sideward kick, sending Enid further into the alleyway.

“You BITCH!” Blanche ripped the knife from her face, eyeball and all. “You ruined my eyeliner! Red is sooo last season...”

One of the cultists walked forward, but Blanche held up her hand.

“Don’t bother, sweetie...” Blanche tossed the knife to him, which he caught sloppily. “Like glass stained forever red, the mind will never let go. Allow me to deal with this.”

Blanche took a combat stance, smirking as Enid pulled the rifle out and pointing in at her. Enid tried pulling the trigger, finding it was stuck.

Blanche kicked the gun aside with surprising force before laying into Enid with a few extra. Enid grabbed the second knife, swinging it wildly, but Blanche was able to flip out of the way, standing with a hand on her hip.

“Such a wonderful sight!” Blanche giggled into her hand. “Poor Enid... you’ve never fought in your life, have you?”

“S-Shut up...” Enid quickly grabbed the rifle, looking at it as she undid the safety latch, swivelling to Blanche and firing wildly.

What she hit instead was... him. The creature. The Mascot. Bloody stuffing exploded out the back of his head, the teeth of the suit cracked by the shot. For a second, he didn’t react, just standing there as Enid looked up in terror.

And then, as if via a delayed reaction, The Mascot’s face flew backwards, taking his body with it, before reversing in slow motion and jamming the new hole in its teeth around the long barrel of the rifle. Then, with Enid frozen stock still with watering eyes, the monster began pulling itself down the neck of the rifle, the other end of it going out through the back of The Mascot’s head coated in blood.

When The Mascot reached the butt stock, and the plush hands it wore were touching Enid’s, the eyes of the costume finally moved, looking up at her. That’s when she screamed, terrified beyond terrified, and the glass eyeballs of the costume exploded in response, releasing far too many centipedes over her as she continued screaming.

Blanche took the opportunity to run forward, spring-boarding off the Mascot’s back and nailing Enid with a harsh kick, causing her to fall backwards. She landed with her heels either side of Enid’s face as she collapsed backwards, allowing Enid to look straight up her skirt and reveal that she wasn’t wearing anything underneath.

“Ah... It was fun playing with you, dear.” Blanche stepped back to let the two cultists take over. “Unfortunately, The One Beyond tends to abhor against second chances, so I’m afraid this is goodbye.”

The cultists dragged Enid to her feet, their strength stopping her from moving.

“Why are you doing this?!” Enid yelled at Blanche as she walked away. The Mascot stood outside the alleyway now, completely repaired as if the fight never happened. “Why are you doing these things?!”

“Why, for The One Beyond, of course!” Blanche giggled into her hand as she clicked her fingers twice. “His specifications are demanding. You interrupted his favourite sacrament with your escape, and that’d just rude.”

Blanche whistled, making the cultists drag Enid out onto the street.

“Take her to the Hive, boys.” Blanche leant in, looking at Enid in the face before kissing her on the forehead. “We’ll play some more later, baby. But I’ve got business to do.”

Blanche began walking down the street, swaying her hips to attract their gazes to her rear. The Mascot had now completely vanished, leaving only the cultists and Enid.

Enid cried to herself as they pulled her to her feet, marching her down the street. This was it. She’d tried so hard, and this is as far as her life was going.

Well, that was until the cultist to her left looked up at the building’s rooftops.

“Hey, that’s him!” He pointed at something. “That’s the guy we’re looking for!”

Enid followed his point. “H-Huh?”

The cultist on her right let go. “By The One Beyond... Alright, you go get him, I’ll stay with the prisoner!”

“You kidding me?!” The other one said. “Why do I have to do it when you’re more capable?”

The cultists were arguing now. Enid reached for her second knife, one that she’d managed to slip away during the fight, but to her surprise the cultist on her left stopped her hand with an almost ginger motion.

“Y-You serious?” The Cultist who got complimented asked. “But... I thought you wanted the blessing...”

“I do. But I understand you’ve got a hell of a lot less respect with him than I do, and you deserve more.” The left cultist patted his shoulder. “Now go. Go earn some respect! He’s on that building, there!”

“A-Alright! I will!” He hurried off. “Get back here, you!”

The second the other cultist was out of sight, the one left to guard Enid pulled his hood back, revealing a brown-haired boy who couldn’t be older than her. “Alright... Enid, was it? Come on.”

He led her by the arm into the building nearby; the building they’d been stopped at by the boy’s apparent sighting. Enid was led inside, rather forcefully, before he let her go and tossed her the other knife she’d lost.

Enid immediately had questions. “W-Why?”

“Enid, you’re rather famous around the precinct at the moment,” He replied quickly. “We don’t have much time. All it’ll take for my false call to get noticed and I’ll be struck down for betraying the cult, so you better hightail it.”

“But... Why, though?” Enid stepped forward. “Why help me like this? What do you gain from it?”

“You don’t seem to understand.” The boy spun around, putting both hands on Enid’s shoulders. “Half that cult? Prisoners. People who got converted against their will. Some of us remember that, Enid. Some of us thought escape was impossible, until you came along and proved that we can have hope.”

Enid blushed. That was a compliment and a half for her.

“Of course, I can’t... exactly... betray them so easily.” The boy revealed that, like Bandit before, he had a tracking device in his neck. “I’m getting shafted for this. So I need to pretend that you wrestled free of my grasp and knocked me out for a bit, okay?”

Enid nodded, backing for the other exit.

“Don’t stop running,” He said. “Run until the grass begins to turn green. Make it to Third Quarter, just left of here... Cult’s not allowed over there. Something in the air makes the residents turn on the purple.”

Enid put her hand on the door out. “W-What about you...?”

“I’m giving you a head start.” The boy motioned with his hand, revealing he was pouring himself a drink. “A minute, at most. That’s all I can afford I’m afraid.”

Enid pushed the door open, seeing it headed back out onto the street below but in a different grid. “... Thank you. I won’t forget this.”

“You will if you don’t get out of here.” The boy poured himself a glass. “Now... One. Two. Three...”

Enid ran for it, knowing there was no more time to chat. As she did, she didn’t see the cultist sit at the barstool, still counting, but slowing down.

“Six... Seven...” He took a swig of his glass. “... Eight. Nine... What number was I on?”

He smirked.

“Guess I’ll start again. One...”

**...**

Enid ran down the street in a full sprint. Behind her was Empty Street, and ahead of her was much of the same. The buildings almost seemed alive as they stared at her with shattered windows. She just had to run until ‘the grass turned green’, and she’d be safer.

The grass was always greener on the other side.

As she ran, she remembered the things she’d experienced so far. All of it, bar the most recent, had happened in Third Quarter; meeting Osper and Bandit, getting caught up in the cult’s business. She’d done all of it in the area she was now running back to.

Suddenly, those memories felt like weights on her chest as she slowed to a sluggish jog. Sure, she could go back. She could go back to where this all started. But what was she going to do when she got there? She knew three people in that part of the city, and one of them hadn’t even told her his name.

... Names. Again, that word came to mind as she tried to think hard about what family she had outside of the walls. Try as she might, she couldn’t remember their names, just like last time, but it was getting harder and harder to remember details. Dad gave her the hairclip... Mom had kept care over her since Dad died...

It was... Christmas? Was that the holiday? The cold winter air would certainly help jog her memory of that. And... she had a boyfriend. Right? Or was that just something she made up...?

And her Advisor! Yes, the Advisor. The one who told her to never come here... His name was...

Enid’s legs had halted. She only realised when she came back from her mind, and she was running again. Just like they’d said... her memories were fading. She’d wanted to only be here a month... no, not a month, a day. Time didn’t feel real anymore.

Something was desperately clawing at her now.

Something that she wasn’t sure she remembered being there.

Enid collapsed onto the nearest bench, having to recover her breath. Again, that thought- the thought of ‘how big is this city’- came to mind. She hadn’t been paying attention to how long she was running, nor how long she’d been stopped for. Now she was just sitting, regaining her breath, that thirst returning to her like a wave of fire.

Enid facepalmed. “Damn it! Can’t stop here... need to keep going...”

Enid got to her feet again. As she got ready to keep going, however, her eyes drifted to something she wasn’t sure was really there. It appeared to be a payphone, the kind of phone you’d actually have to put money into to make a call. She staggered over, looking it over, seeing it was very much intact.

Enid gulped, the frown on her face turning to a hopeful smile, as she fished around in the reposit box for a spare coin. As if miracles were real, a ten pence piece found its way into her hand; the exact amount she needed to make a phone call.

Her mind wandered as she thought about who she could call. The police? No, they’d not believe her. Her Advisor was the second best bet, but she’d called him before and he’d not been of help. That left one place she could think of... one place her memory still had stored.

Enid even remembered the ditty that her mother used to sing about it.

“If you need to call home, pick of the phone...” Enid sung shakily to herself, quickly typing in the beginning of the number. “twenty twenty five six four’s the tone...”

After inserting the coin, Enid quickly dialled ‘01495 202564’ into the phone. Her eyes widened when she heard the dial tone coming from the phone as it quickly typed the number back at her, showing that it was connecting to a number.

Home.

It took three rings... but the sound of the woman Enid loved on the other end of the phone came through loud and clear.

“Enid, honey? That you?”

“MOM!” Enid had to resist screaming down the phone. “Mom! It’s me! Can you hear me?!”

“Yes, I can...” To her surprise, Enid could hear a small dinner party in the background. “What’s up, honey? You need me to come pick you up from school?”

“Mom, I’m nineteen- no, that’s!” Enid was a mess. Tears were streaming down her face like waterfalls. “Mom! Mom, I’m... I’m trapped in a city! I...”

“Oh, dear! One second...” Enid’s mother stepped away from a second. Enid could hear her tittering with a guest she probably had before returning. “Alright, sorry, what were you saying about a school trip?”

“No, Mom!” Enid was getting frustrated. What was going on? “Mom, listen to me! I need you to come down to Tekcas City! T-E-K-C-A-S! I need your help please!”

“Oh, that’s wonderful, dear!”

Enid felt her heart skip a beat. “W-What...?”

Relentlessly, Enid’s mother continued. “Of course you can go! You say the college is paying for it? It’s all that hard work you’ve been putting in... I’m so proud of you, honey. Momma’s always got your back!”

Enid didn’t know how to respond. Of course, her lack of response allowed her to hear something that made her blood run cold- a second voice, one that sounded identical to her own, telling her mother about some ‘school trip’ to Germany that, apparently, the college Enid never went to was paying for.

“Two weeks, you said?” Enid’s mother sounded a little torn. “Well, that’s a very long time. Are you sure you’re gonna be okay out there?”

Enid couldn’t yell. She couldn’t cry. In all her time here, Enid thought she’d seen the worst thing that she could, when it was now that she had finally encountered the worst thing that could’ve ever happened to her.

On the other end of the phone, Enid’s mother was chatting happily to a false voice pretending to be her. Enid had only been gone a day; there was no way this thread of a lie could be conceived this quickly. Hell, it was winter- college doesn’t accept applicants until the new year.

Enid had dropped out of college to help her mother run the store, and here she was tattling about how much business had been booming while Enid was away.

“Well, I’ve got to go, sweetie! Shop’s opening in a few minutes.” Enid’s mother kissed down the phone. “Love you lots like jelly tots!”

Enid’s voice cracked while the other one stayed completely calm, but they both spoke the same sentence back.

“I love you too, Mom.”

Enid slammed the phone as hard as she could into the receiver. The force caused it to break, which just riled her up enough to begin beating it with her fists, which didn’t do anything but make loud ringing sounds around the crossroads. Her sobbing intensified as she collapsed to her knees, the weights in her chest finally buckling her knees.

Her only way out. That, was her only way out, and they’d been spinning the yarn on her own family.

The final nail in the coffin.

Enid got to her feet, sadness turning to rage. Sometimes, that’s all you needed- one little smash to the heart for it to turn to stone. Her eyes lit ablaze as she wiped the last of her tears, growling to herself.

“I-I’m... I’m going to...” She spoke quietly to herself. “I’m going to kill you. I’m going to burn this city to the ground.”

Enid looked up the street. She hadn’t noticed until now, but there was a small plaza-type area ahead of her, with lush green grass glowing as decoration. The Crossroads she’s arrived at was probably the dividing point of the Four Quarters.

She hastened her pace in that direction. As she reached the middle point, her foot hit something hard, and she looked down to see the all-too-familiar shape of Train Tracks.

She blinked. This was a train line. A train line that ran through a tunnel at the end of the street, and another off in the very, very far distance. This place had a train line, but no connecting stations on the map.

Theories began to weave their way through her mind.

If... by chance... the train line had once connected to a different city, then would there be evidence of that elsewhere? Not that she’d find out now, but it was something to think about. After all, she was escaping. That was the first thought at the front of her mind.

The first thought, that was quickly overcome with another; where did the track go, if not to another city?

She looked down the other way again, at the pitch-black tunnel of the southern side. She had to know. With heavy steps towards the tunnel, she let her fear wash over her as she put a hand out.

And like she expected... she touched the dark abyss beyond, and it felt like glass. She ran her hands up and down it, feeling the smooth feeling that came with it, before stepping back and grabbing a nearby rock, tossing it at the glass with all the force she could muster.

Either she was weaker than she imagined or glass was tougher, because the rock bounced off harmlessly, nearly clocking her in the forehead as it flew overhead. She grimaced, biting her lip.

That wasn’t what she’d hoped, but it was what she’d expected.

Turning back, the light of the tunnel shadowed a new figure, standing before her. Considering a balloon floated nearby, she knew that it was The Mascot, but her anger was still fresh as he stood there menacingly.

“... Leave me alone,” She demanded.

The Mascot didn’t move.

“I said, Leave me ALONE!” She screamed at him, grabbing another rock and tossing it at him. “Just get lost! I’m sick of you!”

Again, it didn’t move. It just stood there, that dumb happy expression on its face. Enid was scared of mascots; ever since she’d been almost assaulted by one during a theme park attraction where an apparent murderer had disguised himself as one and had tried to kill her on a rollercoaster.

But this guy wasn’t a Mascot. He was a bully. He was just trying to scare her, which pissed her off even more.

With one final yell, she launched another rock his direction, this one popping the balloon he had been carrying. Enid blinked by accident, which caused The Mascot to vanish, but considering he didn’t appear again it was clear her yelling must’ve worked.

Enid was out of sympathy for these people.

Now, all she wanted was revenge.

**CHAPTER END**


	8. CHAPTER 7- The Sound of Agony

# CHAPTER 7- The Sound of Agony

Enid cuddled herself as she walked through the marketplace. It was clear nobody had used it in a long time- the stalls had cobwebs in them, and the display fruit was mouldy and rotting.

Issue was, she wasn’t alone, and she knew it. It wasn’t just that she could feel The Mascot’s presence, because she couldn’t; it was the fact that she could clearly hear something running about. She could only beg God that it wasn’t dangerous.

She was done with running.

Enid had to sit on the fountain edge. She’d figured out that there was a fountain in the centre of every quarter. That meant she was in the exact centre of Third Quarter, and she could figure her way out from there. After all, if she’d come in near the bottom left, she just had to keep heading south-west.

Of course, her foot was now crying Dixie. She massaged the casted ankle, feeling the amount of time she’d spent on it. She’d run on it, for God’s sake- She was surprised it wasn’t turning red with the blood of the damaged area.

“God, how stupid can I be...” She spoke to herself. “Last thing I want is to cripple myself in this place.”

Suddenly, there was a very, very intense sound. Like someone was slapping their thigh to make a running sound. Enid looked to where the sound came from...

To see a large shadow being cast from the alley.

Quickly, Enid ducked behind the nearest stall to hide. The sound echoed out of the alley and into the area, the echoing it once made didn’t even sound that threatening anymore, but Enid didn’t want to have to deal with it if it was actually dangerous.

Enid put her head down, begging the ground silently for forgiveness...

Until the sound of the running stopped directly next to her. She didn’t have the courage to look up at it- she just waited for her death at the hands of the monster that now flanked her.

... When she found that, ten seconds later she was very much alive, she bit her tongue and looked up. To her amazement, even while sat with her knees to her chest, the ‘creature’ she’d been so scared of wasn’t even directly in her vision. She looked down slightly at the thing standing in front of her.

To her surprise, it didn’t seem dangerous. In fact, there was a high chance it wasn’t even aggressive; it just stood in front of her, occasionally adjusting its footing like it was about ready to fall over.

From the way it was shaped, there was a high chance it was. The best way Enid could describe it is ‘phallic’ shaped; it was pink and fluffy like a stuffed toy, around the same size of Enid’s shin, the two feet-like limbs constantly moving like a hyperactive toddler, and the beady eyes on the top of its head scanned the area with a frantic, if not adorable, stare. It had a head, a body and two feet, that was it- no arms, no hands, no tail or wings.

That didn’t compliment the creature’s very weirdly shaped mouth, a large lower case ‘N’ shape with a single buck tooth smack dab in the middle of it. It was also quivering slightly, probably a sign that it was terrified, or perhaps just needed the bathroom.

Whatever it was, it didn’t seem angry at Enid. Hell, if anything, the creature almost seemed like it was trying to befriend her.

Enid blinked, and the creature did the same, just with one eye at a time.

“Um... h-hello?”

To respond to that question, the creature let loose a wail that Enid went insane over, screaming in response, which seemed to just make the creature scream louder instead. Enid scrambled to her feet, running from the hiding place, looking behind her as the sound of the smacking started up again- only to find that the creature was chasing her.

‘Chasing’ being an overstatement, of course, as it basically drummed hurriedly towards at speeds that could make a snail seem like a race car.

Still, Enid was a quick thinker, and in case she was in danger she grabbed the nearest thing to her- a mouldy, soft apple- and tossed it at the creature, hitting it straight in the face and splattering it with goo. It screamed again, the sound equivalent to a ‘Myah’ sound, as it finally stood still and toppled backwards.

Enid huffed a sigh. She turned her back to it, thinking it was done.

And what followed was probably the most disgusting sound she’d ever heard in her life as a combination of intense slurping and teeth grinding echoed the area. She held terror in her heart as she spun back towards it, blanking on what to do as she saw it back on its feet, completely clean and with not a remnant of the food he’d been hit by.

Enid sat on the fountain edge again. “... You were hungry, huh?”

The creature rushed her, using its face to pull itself up next to her. Enid got some more detail then- the dark patch of fur on its stomach that covered it was actually a pocket, like a kangaroo had. She was tempted to feel inside, but considering it was making weird sounds she didn’t want to test it.

Instead, she let it do whatever it needed to. It let loose another scream, running around the fountain edge to her other side, and then screamed again before returning to the spot it had gone. Enid laughed as it tripped and planted face down, screaming into the concrete.

There was no better way to put the noise it made. It was just... screaming.

“You’re not dangerous at all, huh?” Enid watched as it got up rather fluently, running over so it was about a step away from her. “You’re just... strange.”

It screamed again. When it did, Enid felt a strange feeling overtake her, and she reached out to touch it. It looked at her hand as she extended it, head twisting around like a confused chicken before it seemed to recognise what she was trying to do.

With a ginger movement and a quiet scream, it thrust its head onto her hand, letting her tickle it under the chin. Enid felt a smile echo off her face as it closed its eyes, accepting her attention.

Sure, maybe now it had imprinted on her. Maybe she was going to be in charge of taking care of it now, but she owned three cats back at the store and they sort of did the same thing.

“You’re just a little gremlin, aren’t you?” Enid found herself babying it within moments as it tumbled into her lap for more strokes. “Just a little... Gremlin.”

Since it didn’t make a claim to change her mind, Enid named it as such.

Gremlin and Enid sat on that fountain edge for a few minutes, just getting to know each other’s boundaries. She found that Gremlin was very cat-like; it wanted attention, but didn’t want to seem needy about it, occasionally screaming and running about before returning to her lap.

Meanwhile, Enid was able to teach it rather quickly not to bite her hand.

Of course, with the rise comes the fall, and soon Enid lost sight of her companion as it loudly weaved through the marketplace. She’d followed it to an alley that looked to be completely covered in mirrors, and as it ran down the alley to the end Enid was tempted not to follow it.

“G-Gremlin! Hold on!” She yelled after him. “You can’t... Don’t run off!”

All Enid needed to do was take a single step forward for her breathing to shallow. A single, obvious sound echoed from the end of the alley and around the corner. Gremlin immediately sprinted back the way he’d come, straight to Enid’s feet, and she picked him up and hugged him close as he screamed in terror.

Or maybe he was just screaming because he felt like it. Either way, he was screaming.

Another bead of sweat rolled down Enid’s forehead. She could feel her heart beating loudly as she froze in the alley, testing both her own confidence and the confidence of whoever caused the sound.

After a while, with no other sound, she decided to brace for impact. Putting Gremlin down and telling him to stay put, Enid began walking in that direction, hand reaching for her knife.

“Enid?!”

Enid might’ve actually swung if she didn’t remember the voice. She looked to the left, eyes widening as she saw the familiar shape of...

“BLAIR!” She smiled widely. “Oh my God, it’s you!”

She put her hands against the mirror. Blair did the same.

“L-Looks like we both got the same result, huh?” Blair tried laughing, but it was clear he was petrified. “I... I tried walking out. I tried, but...”

“But the city stopped you.” Again, Enid felt like she could fill in every sentence he was about to say with the same experience. “Met with a man who taught you how to get out of the city, met with the fifth ‘High Guardian’, nearly got captured by a walking Mascot suit and escaped to the Third Quarter?”

Blair blinked. “Met with a _woman_ , met the fifth ‘Grand Orderly’, nearly got captured by a walking _Teddy Bear_ and escaped to the Third _Council_ , yes.”

Enid bonked her own head. “Yours part bird too?”

“Blue and grey feathers,” he snapped back.

“Only black on my end,” Enid smiled. She felt at home with Blair, probably because she was talking to herself at the end of the day. “There’s nothing exactly to say...”

“Did you find the doll?”

Enid tilted her head. That was new. “You mean Gremlin? I guess he’s sort of plush like...”

“Ah, yeah, I guess you’d name it too.” Suddenly, Blair pulled a plush doll from inside of his belt. It had blue skin, button eyes and wire-like black hair, wearing a small doctor’s dress with the accompanying head piece. “I named her Zika... Yes, after the virus.”

Enid was now confused. “Is she... alive?”

“Well, no... She’s a handful, but she’s not alive, that’s for sure.” Blair was talking as though he’d had her for a long time. “Seems she’s trying to say something, all the time, but...”

Enid was alerted to Gremlin’s screaming as he pitter-pattered at her, watching as he rammed into her leg. Enid took her eyes off Blair to see Gremlin basically slamming his face into her thigh.

“See, this one is--”

And suddenly, Enid looked up at Blair to see something far larger than him standing behind the person she’d known as her doppelganger.

Her eyes flew open when she recognised the familiar shape of a bladed arm.

“BLAIR!”

Blair looked behind him...

And in that moment, physics themselves broke.

Enid watched in terror as the creature standing behind Blair slammed into him. However, in the force, Blair was thrown straight through the mirror, into Enid, shattering the mirror from the inside. Enid was shoved into the mirror behind her, cracking but not breaking it, and collapsed downwards as her vision blurred from the impact.

Enid looked at where Blair had been thrown through the mirror, seeing it had broken completely. Blair basically used her shoulder as leverage before the both of them realised they were touching each other.

Blair pulled himself to his feet. “Y-You’re...”

“I’m...” Enid got up as well. “You! You’re here!”

“And you’re...” Blair did a nervous laugh before throwing himself at her, hugging her closely. “Oh my God, you’re actually here...”

Enid, despite being weirded out, hugged him to her as well. “We’re here. We’re together...”

Blair let her go. “S-So... What now?”

“Now we’re going to figure out a plan.” Enid extended her hand. “We’re going to get out of this city. Together.”

Blair nodded, a smile widening on his face as he wiped tears from his face. “And how.”

Blair walked out of the alleyway. Enid went to follow, but found a shooting pain rush up her ankle which made her collapse almost immediately. Blair noticed, luckily, and rushed back to her side, seeing that the cast that wrapped around her foot was now bleeding heavily.

It took around a minute, but soon Enid was sitting on the fountain edge again. Difference was that Blair was now sitting next to her, checking over her foot with all the medical know-how of an average college student...

Which he was.

As he pulled away the cast and began using cloth from the marketplace as material for new bandages, Enid got to talking about things with him that she didn’t expect to be different; they’d grown up modestly wealthy, with the store that both of their parents ran together, with Enid’s doing it out of love for the business and Blair’s doing it to put him through school.

That was the major difference, Enid found; while her parents had been very much supportive of whatever she tried to do, Blair’s parents had seen him more as an educational tool, trying to keep his studies first and his health second.

Speaking of health, that’s when the topic of the cancer came up. With Blair losing his mother to it and Enid, her father, it wasn’t hard to address it. They even compared the thing that their respective parent had made for them, that being Enid’s hairclip and Blair’s ring.

Blair sighed. “It was the last thing she made.”

“Same here with my father,” Enid repeated. “He wanted his last piece of work to go to the person he cared the world for.”

To her surprise, Blair flinched at that remark. “Mom just made mine to remember her by. I... I don’t think she actually loved me.”

Enid sniffed. That was hard to imagine, herself- after all, Blair was a different version of her own life. Like an alternate universe, or a different timeline. It was hard to imagine that her parents would ever treat her the way he’d described.

And then, the topic of what happened after came up. The topic of how their remaining parent changed after the funeral. For Enid, it had been a case of having to watch her mother’s health deteriorate to a point where she had to be hospitalised. For Blair, his father took up drinking as a hobby, becoming emotionally blank and eventually boozing himself into a coma.

Of course, both of them made a recovery. After a heartfelt speech about how much love weighed out despair, Enid’s mother took her time and soon began running the shop, which still stood today. Blair’s father apologised for everything, telling him that he just wanted Blair to have a better life than he did, and came back to his side of the shop in pretty much the same way.

And then there was the educational part of the two lives. Blair and Enid, as expected, had been very different in how they saw college, both of them having had a ridiculously difficult time in Comprehensive with the whole ‘parents dying’ thing.

“I decided to drop out,” Enid admitted. “I wanted to help run the shop with my mother. Maybe it was a stupid decision, but becoming a Journalist was a safe option for someone like me.”

“For me, it was... the opposite, I suppose.” Blair finished with Enid’s foot, doing a pretty mediocre job of wrapping it. “I went to college and got my A-levels, hoping I could use my education to save my father the trouble, but... Nobody would hire me.”

Enid paused. “I thought... I thought you said becoming a reporter was your first choice?”

“No, of course not.” Blair laughed to himself. “Who wants to be a _reporter_ nowadays? You think I like being paid near-nothing to come walk out into the middle of nowhere and almost get killed fifty times in a row?”

Enid bit her lip. “... Journalism was never my choice, either. I’d wanted to be something... bigger. Something more proud, but... when you drop out of school right before the midterms you tend to be left with not a lot of options.”

Blair chuckled suddenly. “Historian?”

“Historian!” Enid laughed. “Yeah, yeah! That’s why I...”

Her smile faded.

“Why I... took this job in the first place.”

It was Blair’s turn to pause. “... Yeah. Me... Me too.”

The silence that followed was blunt and sickly. In that moment, both of them seemed to realise that they’d been brought to the city, almost like it had called them, and now here they were talking to each other about how life was different between both of them.

Two souls, trapped by their own volition.

Of course, that wasn’t the final twist in the cogs.

“... You heard the voice too, huh?”

Blair had asked the question, but Enid had been thinking it. Sure enough, both of them had heard it.

“Every night in the month leading up to this.” Enid looked up at him, seeing his face was one of acceptance. “Just... ‘Come to Tekcas City’. Over, and over, and over...”

“Until you were getting on a bus and going to it,” Blair hesitantly said. “Without even realising you weren’t doing it on your own time.”

“And your mind made up an excuse...” Enid’s voice wavered. “Told you that... that you were reporting on a story. That you were...”

“That you were doing it for them, not you.” Blair’s eyes began watering finally. “That you were finding the truth out about the city. That you were just going to be here a day, at most.”

Blair and Enid looked into each other’s eyes.

“... I don’t remember my mother’s name anymore,” Enid told him.

Blair nodded. “Same with my father.”

This whole time, Enid had thought she was crazy. She thought she turned a blind eye this whole time thinking that she was just doing it to stop others from having to, but now... now she wasn’t so sure.

Even before entering the city...

She’d been trapped.

Suddenly, Enid laughed. It was a pitiful one; the kind of laugh you’d give when you realise something you should’ve realised earlier. Blair must’ve gotten the same thought because suddenly he laughed too, a single tear rolling down his cheek.

“... It’s been longer than a day, huh?” Enid asked. “Divan lied to us when he said we’d been asleep for two hours.”

“D-Divan...” Blair realised quickly. “Tamius. She told me it had ‘only been a short while’. She’d told me she’d bandaged my back from where it’d been cut up...”

Enid looked at her foot. It was all falling into place.

“B-Blair...” She looked to him, almost like she was expecting him to know. “How long does it take for a broken foot to heal?”

Blair answered back with the tiniest, most pathetic voice Enid had ever heard.

“S-Six to Eight weeks.”

Enid closed her eyes, frustration beginning to bubble to the surface. This is what he’d meant. When Divan told her that he ‘wasn’t going to stand idle’... this is what he meant by that.

Divan had tricked her. Divan had tricked them both, under two different aliases.

Blair then suddenly stood up. “Damn it...” He paced, nervously clicking and holding his face. Seemed like he’d thought the exact same thing as her.

They weren’t prisoners to the city anymore.

They were residents.

“We have to stop this.” Enid got up, ignoring the pain in her foot. “We have to stop this, Blair.”

“How?!” His voice finally gained some traction as he yelled. “How do you expect US to be able to stop this, Enid?! We’re two nineteen-year-old college students without any fighting prowess!”

Enid flinched, knowing he was right. “I know... I know we are, but...”

“But what?” Blair was clearly just arguing because he’d given up. “Enid, we’re... we’re trapped. We’re just part of the group now. I don’t want to be here anymore than you do but at some point you have to just--”

Suddenly, a scream surfaced. Both Blair and Enid looked down at Gremlin, who’d been busy gorging himself on the rotten apples nearby, but had clearly finished up because now he was standing impatiently near them.

Enid sniffled. “... No.”

Blair looked at her. “No?”

“No. I’m not going to just...” Enid motioned a rolling sign with her hand. “I’m going to fight. With, or without, you.”

Blair watched in amazement as she turned to the West direction, hobbling painfully that way. She grunted as she had to stop at the nearby stall, her foot not letting her go further, but she made it her bitch as she continued walking.

“... Enid, stop.”

Blair followed behind her. Enid didn’t listen, basically dragging herself along the stalls. Of course, such a plan didn’t work when there was no stalls to hold onto, and Enid got three steps out of the marketplace before collapsing.

That didn’t deter her, though. She began crawling then, her body begging her to stop and her not listening. It was until Blair stood in her path that she finally paused, looking up at him with agony.

“You can’t do this to yourself,” Blair berated. “You’re going to kill yourself.”

“We c-can’t...” She tried desperately to claw herself to her feet. “We can’t... g-give up...”

And then... Blair extended a hand.

“I know we can’t.” Blair smiled softly. “So come on. I’ll carry you if I have to.”

Enid smiled back, taking his hand and using his shoulder as leverage. Now that all weight was off her foot, she felt so much better. Gremlin was following, too, pitter-pattering around the place excitedly as if they were going on a day trip.

Blair chuckled. “It’s funny... you’re like the sister I never had.”

Enid rolled her eyes. “We’re the same person, you dolt.”

Blair laughed, but then paused. “So... where exactly are we going?”

Enid thought about it for a second.

And then... she realised. There was one place she could think of that would find her in good hands. One place that would house an ally in the war against the city.

“We’re going to go find Osper.”

**CHAPTER END**


	9. CHAPTER 8- Rectify the Past

# CHAPTER 8- Rectify the Past

Enid blanked the entire journey, but she must’ve given good directions as Blair managed to carry her to the nameless saloon in the Third Quarter. The second they got in and got seated at the back of the room, Blair let loose a sigh he’d probably been holding since the beginning.

“Christ...” He sat across from her. “You’re heavier than I imagined you to be.”

“That better not be a poke at my feminism,” Enid barked back. Gremlin had decided to sit- read, plop about nervously- next to her in the booth they’d taken, hidden from the other patrons.

There were at least fifteen of them this time. They all gave the same look of suspicion when Blair and Enid had manoeuvred to the back.

“Well.” Blair took out the doll. “Now what?”

Enid groaned. “Water. Then we’ll make a plan.”

Almost on cue, the waiter- who appeared to be missing both of his eyes- walked over, a cheesy grin on his face. “Can I get you anything?”

“Water,” Enid repeated.

“That it?” The waiter’s neck cricked sideways. “Can we get you some food, maybe?”

The over-excited nature made Enid turn it down. “No thank you.”

Despite still smiling, the dejected nature of the waiter hung in the air as he returned to the bar with the order. Enid watched them for a moment before turning back to Blair with a fearful face.

Gremlin made a bit of noise, but Enid had to cover his face just in case. “Look, I’m not saying this is going to be easy.”

“And I’m not saying it’s impossible,” Blair answered immediately. “We’re in this together, Enid. I get I wasn’t on board beforehand, but I can see now this means a lot to you, so let’s do it.”

“We’re the sanest ones here,” Enid began tickling Gremlin behind his non-existent ears. “It’d be wise to keep it that way, no?”

“And what about this... Osper?” Blair twirled Zika the doll’s hair. “You think he’ll help us?”

“That’s why we’re here.” Enid looked at the door. “I’m hoping that he’ll appear here. This is where I met him before.”

“And he’s just going to... appear? Again?” Blair was sceptical, but open to the idea. “What if he doesn’t? You have a backup plan, right?”

Enid said nothing more, watching the door. Sure enough, some time passed before someone new stepped through.

Someone completely new. Someone Enid had never seen before, and immediately feared as she ducked back into the booth. Of course, curiosity held her as she peeked back out again, watching as the figure stood on the squeaky floorboard.

Like with her, the entire room went quiet and looked at him.

But unlike with her, the bartender seemed to instantly turn on him.

“Hey! Told you once- out! Now!” The bartender stopped cleaning his glass. “Don’t make me fetch my gun!”

The figure said nothing. Enid was surprised- she was five seven, so she was used to seeing people have to look down on her, but he seemed even shorter than he did, maybe five-four at most.

“You’ve got to the count of three!” The Bartender pulled a gun out from under the table. To Enid’s amazement, many of the other people also got up as well, cracking fists, looking for a brawl. “One! TWO!”

A sickeningly sweet voice came from the man before The Bartender could speak further.

_“Three.”_

Like a machine, suddenly a chain-like rope flew from behind the man’s back. At the end of it was an open maw which immediately snapped shut over the nearest woman’s nose, ripping it off as he swung backwards with his arm, but the woman didn’t even react as blood spewed forth. About then was when Enid actually paid attention to the man.

It was like he was partway from transforming into a werewolf. Bright yellow eyes scanned the competition, the slits of a pupil turning them fox like, which complimented the fact that the man had fox-like ears growing out through the hood of the ruined cloak he would’ve worn. He wore iron-clad gloves, the thumb of his hands having a sharp looking nail. Those same nails were on the feet of the man, too, but unlike with the tail growing out from his slacks the fur that covered his feet was more of a layer than a skin.

And the weapon he used... it was nothing more than mesmerising to watch him swing it around. It was some sort of miniature bear trap, a twenty foot iron cord allowing him to swing it around like a flail or a lasso, and he seemed to be multi-handed as he used both during combat.

However, it also seemed that his morals were out of place because he was now slaughtering the entire room, using his enhanced speed and strength to leap around the room and off of furniture, scoring an easy kill with every few seconds. A few of the kills were even offhandedly given by the Bartender, who shot at the man as he sped around the room.

Blair looked to the Bartender as he reloaded. “W-We should help him.”

“What?!” Enid yelled over the sound of dying human. “Why?! We don’t know him! He could be evil!”

Without a pause, the man landed directly onto the table of the booth, causing all in it to yell.

“Heard that!” The man spoke at them with a voice like iron melting. “And no, I’m not a bad person. I’m just sick of not getting service around these parts!”

The man leapt back through and onto the bar, grabbing the end of the shotgun that the Bartender had been using and pointing upwards and under his chin, causing the Bartender’s next shot to go off directly into his own face.

Enid yelped as the entire layer of skin guarding the muscle underneath went with it, and The Bartender collapsed unceremoniously. Then the man began booting glasses at the remaining patrons until they all ran for it, a total of three survivors in the army of sixteen that had attacked him.

“Ah... sweet, sweet silence.” The man sat on the bar edge, grabbing the last glass he’d saved and pouring straight tequila into it. “Now, onto bigger matters. Name’s Enoch- I was sent by First Quarter to come collect you.”

“You’re one of them?!” Enid tried to slide out of the booth, but collapsed to the floor due to her broken foot. “S-Stay away from me!”

Enoch laughed. “Sweetie, no. First Quarter’s where all the rich ones live. I’m not part of the cult; I’m more of a collector for rich game, you know?”

“But that makes you evil!” Blair yelled at him, standing in front of Enid. “You want to capture Enid!”

“I prefer the term ‘collect’.” Enoch suddenly snapped his weapon taut. “Now step out the way.”

For a second, it seems like Enoch is about ready to pounce...

But then he laughs.

“Ah, I gotcha!” He sheathed his weapon through the hoops on his belt. “Nah, I’m just messing with you. I’m a bit of a trickster, see... have to tell a lie every so often to get the blood going.”

Blair tilts his head, much like Enid. “Wait, so you--”

Enoch wasn’t done however as his face went serious. “And I mean that literally. If I don’t tell a lie at least every two minutes, my heart stops.”

“How do we know that wasn’t a lie?” Blair asked.

“I suppose you don’t!” Enoch laughed to himself. “I suppose you don’t. It’s a case of if you trust me instead.”

“I don’t.” The way Enid said it was incredibly blunt as she used Blair as a crutch to stand up. “What on Earth do you want?”

“A chat, mostly.” Enoch sat across from the pair, and by that he just sort of leant on the nearby table. “You’re a stranger in my little world, Enid dear. What’s up with you? How’s the wife, how’s the kids? I know you have them. Of course, I don’t. That was a lie. Another two minutes of life for me!”

Enoch’s comedy wasn’t sitting well at all with her.

“I’m trying to escape the city.” Enid had to keep herself- and by extension, Blair- grounded. “It’s a long story; involves a lot of borrowed time and a mirror dimension...”

“Ah, that’d explain why you’ve got half the cult up in arms,” He chuckled. “Well, little missy, I suppose you better get talking.”

Enid spent the next twenty minutes explaining everything she could remember; about entering the city, her first mistake, all the way up to Blair getting thrown into this world and her return to the bar. Enoch listened to all of it, his head nodding along, but as Enid spoke he seemed to repeat a quiet sentence to himself that, try as she might, she couldn’t hear.

“Well, you’re in a jam-covered pickle dipped in jelly, ain’t ya?!” Enoch hurried to his feet. “Well! I understood like, 20% of that, and I’ve lived here for twelve years. Odd considering this should be everyday occurrence.”

Blair had kept close to Enid, ready to catch her if she fell. “What about you? Who are you, really?”

Enoch took a very dramatic pose. “I’m your father... Another lie. I’m an ex-cult member! Painted the robes black for comfort. As you can see, I’ve received the blessing of the big man himself. Think of me now as... part shit-eating human, part Fenix the Trickster God.”

Blair huffed a sigh. “You talk a lot, you know that?”

“I gotta! Keeps the blood pumping.” He bore his fangs. “Besides, what do I have to gain for working with the creeps downstairs?”

“I dunno...” Enid crossed her arms, keeping weight off her foot. “Seems like they run the entire city, so.”

“Ah, that’s where you’re wrong!” All of a sudden, Enoch’s tail began actually, physically wagging like a dog. “They can’t touch this Quarter- oh, that’s an accidental lie! Rare. They can _touch_ it, but they can’t influence anyone in this section of the city.”

Blair looked at Gremlin, who was currently downing all the alcohol at the bar.

“It’s a lot like this- you know a metronome? Those things that you need to keep in tune with music?” His tail was moving like one at that moment, so it wasn’t hard to imagine. “Well, it’s like that! They’re very wishy-washy on their opinions of the cult in this place, but it never usually strays from ‘hatred’.”

“Then everyone at the bar you just killed was an ally in this,” Blair muttered. Luckily Enoch didn’t seem to hear as he stood up, landing delicately on his feet.

“Alrighty!” Enoch spun his weapon around his fingers like he was weaving it into a basket. “I am a pink horse! Let’s do this!”

Enid watched in confusion as he headed for the door. “Where are you going?”

“Where does it look?” He turned, still walking towards the door, extending his hands outwards. “I’m gonna go find this Osper dude and eat his face.”

Enid did go to chase, but realised he was lying. “Ugh. Goodbye.”

“T-T-Y-L!”

After their conversation, Enoch walked out the door, throwing his weapon upwards and using it like a zip line to head out. Enid shared the same unhappy stare with Blair, who even shrugged at what the hell just happened.

That’s when the room was filled with a disgusting sound of vomiting. Enid looked to where Gremlin had been to see he’d vomited all over the countertop. It wasn’t the usual type of vomit, which should’ve been expected; no, it was like a steaming brown pile of crushed glass, melted apple core and alcohol fuelled toxins had just been slapped onto it.

The smell drove Enid into a fight-or-flight response almost instantly. It was like burnt hair, amplified. Hell, she could even taste it like some sort of rotting earwax in the back of her throat.

Enid headed for the door, hopping for fresh air. It wasn’t until she put her hand on the door and actually shoved it open was she met with the inclination she should’ve just stayed inside.

Suddenly, a hair-like appendage was thrust onto her forehead. She looked up at the towering figure of Pathwalker, her eyes glazing over as he took another one of his tendrils and flicked her with it.

In her mind, she was sent flying backwards. She watched in awe as a thousand different versions of her appeared from nowhere, disappearing into dust as she hit the back wall of the endless void she now found herself in.

She looked around, terror and confusion gripping her. “What...?”

She looked to the left. Nothing. She looked to the right. Nothing. She looked straight ahead, however, and saw a familiar face- a familiar face, but an unfamiliar body. In front of her stood Pathwalker but... not Pathwalker.

It was... the person who Pathwalker was... _before_ , Pathwalker. When he was still human.

Enid looked downwards, seeing that her foot was completely repaired. She put weight on it for what felt like the first time in ages before scanning back upwards, this time seeing that he’d vanished again.

If this was how it was going to be, then Enid was going to wake up right now.

Of course, she didn’t get the chance. With a small dizzy spell, a scene emerged around her; a street that was all too familiar. The streets of Tekcas City stretched ahead of her, shimmering like waves of insects made up the ground itself, and the people who walked on it.

Then, from nowhere at all, Pathwalker’s voice echoed the entire scene.

_“It was many years ago.”_

Enid sighed, settling herself for a long story. The world around her moved like a jagged frame issue, the people taking three steps at a time, but she gritted her teeth and bared it.

_“Tekcas City was once a flourishing city.”_ Enid couldn’t even block her ears. It was like Pathwalker was inside her very head. _“However, all of the townsfolk would agree to one legend- the town itself was cursed.”_

The scene shimmered, and Enid found herself at the entrance of a hospital- something she had never seen in her travels.

_“The average life expectancy of Tekcas City was 30. If you lived beyond it, you were one of the 1%; you were treated like royalty.”_ The hospital doors opened, revealing rows upon rows of coffins. _“Women would leave town to give birth, fearing miscarriage. Men would work the safest jobs they could. It’s no wonder that this place was named after the Caskets it filled.”_

Another scene change. This time, it was in a graveyard, with shimmering dirt being thrown over the shoulder.

_“But that all changed. A curse became a miracle. A death sentence, a welcome invitation.”_ The grave robber threw a coffin out, getting up to open it. _“Because one day... amidst a man’s final moments... he disturbed the life after death.”_

The coffin sparkled with riches. Enid even got to see exactly what was inside.

_“And it held the very thing the man desired. Riches. Life. Things that could finally pull him free of his debts and his woes. And all it cost was his morals against death.”_

Suddenly, a ton of different images flashed around her. Enid needed the narration to even keep up with it all.

_“The man told the others. Of course, they were sceptical, but after one checked for himself they found it to be true. Soon, all the residents that were able began digging up the graves of the cemetery; the very cemetery that held the loved and lost, all pulled from eternal rest just for some extra gold.”_

Then, a body hit the ground directly next to Enid, causing her to flinch away with a start.

_“And then... the impossible happened.”_ Enid watched as more and more bodies fell from the sky. _“The people who’d been disturbed... came back. Falling like angels, like they’d been ejected from heaven itself, without so much as a scratch, even when their heads should’ve detonated across the pavement.”_

The bodies began getting up, but the scene kept going, shimmering into a home where a family sat on the couch.

_“Husbands returned to wives. Wives returned to husbands.”_ Pathwalker continued relentlessly, not giving Enid a chance to speak. _“Babies were returned to couple in one piece so they could begin their lives again.”_

The scene was gone within moments, and Enid found herself in a round office-style room that looked... slightly familiar.

_“But then... just like that... the last of the coffins were dug up...”_

Pathwalker was suddenly sitting in a chair in front of her.

“And the riches were gone.”

“Why are you showing me this?” Enid found her voice again. “What do you to gain from it?”

“Not much.” Pathwalker leant onto the desk in front of him. “Just an idea of what’s hiding under the skin.”

Enid waited patiently, but the silence was clearly not fading.

“So what now?” Enid crossed her arms. “You want me to just attack you or something? What’s the point?”

“It’s your decision.” Pathwalker motions with his hand. “After all, I’m simply testing your mental restraint. If you believe that attacking me is the way forward, you’re free to do so.”

“But I don’t...” Enid pursed her lips. “Can’t you just let me go? Isn’t that an option?”

Pathwalker placed his nose atop his folded hands. “You’re a strange girl, Enid. Even when you’re being led down a dangerous path, you continue to fight against the city’s influence.”

“I just want to go home,” Enid replied sharply. “Let me go.”

“It’s not my decision.” He motions with his hand to the side at nothing in particular. “It’s theirs. The city.”

Enid sighed. “I had a feeling.”

As much as Enid didn’t want to admit it, she was beginning to get used to the ‘city’ theory. After all, she couldn’t deny the city was alive anymore.

Then, Pathwalker started up on a tangent. “People don’t come here willingly anymore. The city needs sacrifice, Enid, and without human souls to build it that way it makes things difficult.”

Enid shook her head. “What do you mean?”

“You see, the townsfolk...” Pathwalker rubbed his thumbs together as he put them on the desk. “They’re soulless. Their humanity was stripped from them and given to The One Beyond. In this world, a human consists of three parts; the Mind, the Body and the Soul.”

Enid had heard of this theory before, back before she dropped out of college. Then again, it had been in a Mythology Class; remove the soul from a human and you get a husk. Remove the brain, you get a zombie. Remove the body, you get a spirit.

She didn’t remember the rest. She didn’t think she’d need to, until today.

“But what about you?” Enid motioned to Pathwalker. “What are you in all of this? Are you like Divan?”

“Divan is a loyal subject of The One Beyond, Enid.” Pathwalker’s face cracked a smile. “As am I. As are the ones you wish to end the lives of. You do not scare us... you barely register as a threat.”

Enid didn’t take kindly to such insults. “And what do you care?! Why can’t you just let this ‘One Beyond’ know that I don’t want to play his game?!”

“Because he specifically chose you to join him.”

Enid flinched. “H-He... what?”

Pathwalker’s mouth stretched upwards into a smile that didn’t feel real. “Come to Tekcas City... Enid.”

Enid paused. And then, she realised.

“... It was you.” Enid pointed shakily. “You were the one who... who brought me here. You’re the voice I kept hearing.”

Pathwalker shrugged. “I am not just the voice, dear girl. I am many voices, all crying to the Void to affix you a new situation.”

“... You...” Enid could feel her rage boiling. “You’re the one who made my mother believe I was back in college?”

“And the voice on the other end of the phone during your entrapment.”

“You BITCH!” The desk was thrown aside, and Enid was now holding Pathwalker by his shirt collar. “You’re the one running all of this?!”

Pathwalker’s smile didn’t fade. Finally, Enid understood.

Eon didn’t lead the pack. Pathwalker did.

And he ruled with an iron fist.

Enid finally let her rage boil over. She reeled back a fist, reading to throw it forwards, but Pathwalker didn’t react. He simply waited, causing Enid to pause at how calm he was being.

And then...

“ _Mortem tuam_ , Motherfucker.”

Suddenly, Pathwalker’s head burst open, red blossoming like liquid ruby. Enid dropped Pathwalker, backing away as the area shimmered back into the street. However, she was aware this was now the real street, mostly because the place didn’t appear to be made of insects.

Pathwalker hid his face as he rose back on his tendrils. As he dragged himself away, ducking into the nearest alleyway, Enid’s eyes adjusted to the man who was now standing in front of her.

A man that she knew all too well.

“And to think, I thought I saw the last of you.” She smiled pitifully.

“I was hoping you would...” Osper replied.

**CHAPTER END**


	10. CHAPTER 9- Back to Basics

# CHAPTER 9- Back to Basics

“So, you’re... Osper?”

Blair was now busy asking questions as they walked to his apartment building. For all of about five minutes since Osper had saved Enid again, they’d been walking- or at least in her case, hobbling- in silence.

Osper hadn’t changed, neither in tone nor coldness. “That’s correct.”

“And you’re the one who saved Enid?” Blair continued.

“What is this, twenty questions?” Osper growled. “I was just going to the bar. Don’t pretend that this was some sort of wanted rescue mission.”

Enid was lagging behind. Luckily, Gremlin was just as low as she was at that moment, so they were walking together just watching the pair.

“I see you found a new friend.” Osper was referring to Gremlin. “It’s imprinted on you, by the looks of things.”

“His name is Gremlin,” Enid replied. “I found him in this sort of... market area. It’s where Blair came through the mirror, too.”

“Yes, well, the Clamor Furrure isn’t rare in that area.” Osper was speaking as though he knew exactly where she was talking about. “Every spring they come out of the woodwork to feast. Guess that one ended up being separated from its family.”

“I... huh?” Enid was confused, but kept the pace up. “You’ve seen them before?”

“Oh, please.” Osper sighed. “They’re like rats. I have to bat one out of my apartment every other week.”

That raised a second question in Enid’s mind. “Then... how come I haven’t seen any others?”

Osper paused; and by that, he actually paused, like someone had hit him with a pause button. “What?”

Blair muttered to himself. “I have no idea what you two are talking about...”

“You know, now that I think about it...” Osper rubbed his chin. “I don’t think... I’ve seen any, either. For at least a month.”

Enid looked at Gremlin, who looked up at her dopily blinking one eye at a time.

“Are they all... like this?” Enid asked, a little worried.

“No.” Osper turned to her. “What did you call it? Gremlin?”

Enid nodded.

“Well, if I had to guess, Gremlin is still a juvenile. Two months, at most.” Osper picked Gremlin up off the floor, causing him to scream. “Even so, he’s small. Even for the runt of a litter.”

Enid grimaced. “He’s up to my knee... are you sure?”

Osper shrugged. “I’ve seen the bigger lot rival my building in height.”

“Ah.”

“Hey, can we keep moving?” Blair said worriedly. “This place makes me nervous.”

Osper tossed Gremlin back to Enid, who caught him clumsily. “Don’t try and take command.”

Nevertheless, within the next twenty minutes they were back in Osper’s apartment building. Along the way, Enid regaled Osper with what had happened after she left, from the encounter with the coffins to the situation with Ross- a man that Osper almost seemed to react to fondly- right down to her encounter with Divan and the Mascot and the turn-coat Cultist. Enoch, too, but Osper knew that had happened.

“Enoch’s a known myth in Third Quarter,” Osper had explained. “He’s like Santa with Bloodlust. If you’re lucky, and only if you’re lucky, you get to see him do what he does best; murder.”

“Is he evil?” Enid had asked.

“Far from it. He’s a bastard.”

Enid had to be psychically carried up to Osper’s apartment. As they came through the door, Enid remembered the other person that had been here the last time she’d seen it.

“... Bandit?” Enid looked around. “Osper, is Bandit still here...?”

Osper didn’t even need to answer. Suddenly, out of the bedroom came Bandit herself, folding a t-shirt as she went.

“Osper, sorry to ask, but where do we put the...” Bandit looked up, and dropped the shirt she was holding. “... Enid.”

Enid got up, ignoring the pain in her foot. “BANDIT!”

She hobbled over, throwing her deep into a hug. Bandit flinched with pain, but did reciprocate, leaving both of them to start rambling about what had happened while they were separated.

Blair looked to Osper, who gave the short version as the girls nattered. “I decided she could stay for a bit longer. She’s like a maid.”

Blair smirked. “Or is it because you--”

“Don’t even try.” Osper got up, heading over to the kettle which had begun whistling. “You two. Sit down.”

Bandit did as she was told, as Enid got to her own seat soon after. Gremlin was busy running around the floor like an over-stimulated toddler, which made Blair laugh. Enid’s foot was in agony still, but she wasn’t complaining.

After all, it was like they were a family, even if none of them felt the same.

Osper poured out the cups. “So was it you then?”

Enid looked up from the table. “Hm?”

“The entire Third Quarter’s turned on the Cult,” Osper explained, putting cups in front of his guests before sitting in his own chair. “It’s the first time that this part of the city has embraced the chaos of Tekcas. I take it you’ve got something to do with it?”

Enid bit the inside of her cheek. “I don’t know. I’ve been... out of it for a while. I met with Ross, and then there was this creature that took me to Divan...”

“Yep, that’ll do it.” Osper drank deeply from his cup. Enid looked inside hers, seeing it was some kind of hot beverage of which she couldn’t determine. “Enid, in the six weeks you’ve been gone, the city has gone into uproar. The Cult are hunting for people like us- people who have resisted against the city. There are three things that live in this city- Husks, Monsters and Cult Members.”

“And since we’re not any of those three,” Bandit added, “they’re looking for us.”

Blair went glum. “I can assume what happens when you get captured.”

Osper drummed his fingers on the table. It was the only thing breaking the silence at that moment.

Until...

“So what are we going to do?” He spoke again, a hint of determination in his icy gaze. “You want escape, but the city’s preventing it. So what now?”

Blair and Bandit looked at Enid in turn. Seems the responsibility was on her head now.

“... We have to kill the High Guardians.” Enid’s voice quivered out the only option left. “The five who run the Cult. Ross... Ross had been trying to find someone who could.”

“And he entrusted you.” Osper swirled his cup. “Interesting.”

“Did you know him?” Bandit turned to Osper.

“Vaguely. He was very much a ‘fate guides the way’ type person. Believed everything was set in stone.” Osper sighed, putting down the cup. “He predicted his own death date, as a matter of fact.”

Enid cringed when she remembered the calendar.

“We talked... Once? Twice?” Osper growled. “Don’t remember the exact date. But I remember he said something that... I never thought I’d believe today.”

Osper leant in, making everyone else do the same.

“He told me that one day, someone would leave the city. That one day, someone who’s will to fight the legend would shatter the veil and let us all walk free.” Osper was deadly serious in tone. “And by coincidence... he told me that he predicted it would be an average College Girl.”

Bandit pointed at Enid. “Well... there’s an average College Girl.”

“H-Hah, um...” Enid rubbed the back of her neck. “I don’t... think he was talking about me. There’s no way.”

Blair sniffed. “I still have no idea what you guys are talking about.”

Osper rolled his eyes, standing up. “Listen. I’m not going to agree or disagree with the semantics of this whole legend. Ross could’ve predicted the day he died easily- he just needed to end his own life on that day- but I will say that it’s a rather large coincidence that he was able to identify the type of person who’d cause the events leading up to this point.”

Blair tapped his foot. “Not to mention, that all of this happened only after Enid entered the city, right?”

Enid then stood up, a sudden look of fear on her face. “G-Guys, you don’t understand. I know it seems like I could be this... legend... but I don’t see how someone like me could be it! I mean, I barely know what this city is like anyway...”

Osper walked over to the window of the kitchen, looking out into the street. “Enid. I understand you’re afraid... but honestly, you need to realise that there’s no point in fighting this. If you are the person of the prediction, then Ross has entrusted you with a lot more than some paper and a basic plan.”

Blair clicked. “Speaking of, do you still have the sheets?”

Enid said nothing, simply taking the yellowing paper out of the bag. Once more, the five evil faces of the High Guardians stared back, or in the case of The Nameless, sort of smirked.

Bandit whimpered. “Mm... That’s the one who captured me.” Her finger pointed at Pathwalker.

“And he’s the one who brought us to the city,” Enid explained. “He’s the voices Blair and I have been hearing this whole time. He’s manipulated the entire scene to make us think we came here on our own volition.”

“And it’s only recently that’s changed.” Blair tapped his head. “I’m... fading. My memories, they’re going. I don’t even remember the names of my family anymore.”

“Then there are the others...” Enid shifted them about. “The Nameless, Divan, Eon...”

“Blanche.”

Osper turned to the table, walking over and looking over the five pictures. His eyes seemed to linger on Blanche for a bit longer and a rageful scowl built on his face.

“... She’s the one who killed your girlfriend, isn’t she?”

Enid asked the question that she knew she shouldn’t. For the first time, Osper didn’t seem furious at the remark, but his face said all she needed to know. The reason why Osper was so cold to others was because of Blanche.

“If I’m going to die,” Osper suddenly muttered, “I’m going to die avenging her.”

“There’s one issue with all of this,” Blair voiced reasonably. “It’s the fact that, apparently, the cult outmatches us ten-thousand to one. We’re going to need a lot more than just us four to take them on.”

As Enid spoke her next sentence, the phone began ringing, so Osper walked over and answered it while she explained.

“I can think of a few people,” Enid explained. “As long as we get them on our side, I think we’re okay.”

Osper answered the phone then, annoyed. “Hi.”

The reply was just loud enough for everyone else to hear it.

_“Outside your window.”_

Enid blinked.

She recognised the voice... and not for the right reason.

The phone hung up. Osper put it down, and walked over to the window. Enid, however, beat him to it, pushing her face against the glass to see what was going on. Down on the street, something was waiting.

Something big. Something mechanical, yet flesh all the same.

“... Wefruc?” Enid spoke to herself. “What’s he...”

And then all at once, it hit her. Placed in a small riding platform of the monstrous titan’s back palette was Eon, who was sitting in a throne, designed especially for her. Next to her stood Pathwalker, whose face was covered in raw tissue and scars.

Osper groaned. “Looks like they wanted another meeting.”

“No...” Enid suddenly got very worried. “I don’t think they do.”

Suddenly, Eon made the motion for Osper to pull up the window, which he did despite the implications it brought.

“What do you want?!” Osper yelled down at them. “I’ve told you too many times that this place is off limits for you!”

Eon looked at Pathwalker. “That man.”

“Yes?” Pathwalker replied with a gravelly voice.

“Fuck him.”

Pathwalker nodded, removing something from his belt. He then stepped out of the way, revealing that he’d been standing in front of... some sort of spherical device.

Osper must’ve caught on to what it was, because he immediately backed away. “Out of the building. NOW!”

But it was too late. In the next second, Enid watched as Pathwalker loading a grenade into the mortar and fired it at the apartment block, right through the window and straight into the kitchen. Enid could only hobble two steps in the opposite direction as it detonated, sending shrapnel and debris around the kitchen.

Enid collapsed, getting on her knees and putting her hands over her head like she was surrendering. All she could hear were the screams of Bandit as Osper worked on getting everyone out.

Next thing she knew, another grenade had been thrown through the window, and Enid’s world went black.

...

...

... Enid awoke again sometime later. Her eyes were foggy and the area around her was spinning, but she could definitely see that the apartment was on fire. She tried to get up, but she couldn’t so much as shift- one of the cross beams in the ceiling had collapsed right on top of her, trapping her waist underneath.

She tried to pretend that she could feel her leg. It didn’t help; too much to concentrate on. She panicked, her breathing getting heavier, but all she breathed was smoke as she eyed where a fire had started on the cooker.

She was going to suffocate.

A scream pierced the air. Amidst the burning wood, a ball of pink fluff pushed its way through and into the kitchen, looking around at the flames. Enid tried to call, but her voice got caught into her throat when she saw someone else.

Someone else, on the floor across from her.

Blair.

“B-Blair...” Her voice was shaky and quiet, so she tried again. “B-Blair! Blair, can you...”

Enid recognised quickly that it was no use. He was out cold- though still breathing, because she could see his breathing pattern. The yelling caught the attention of Gremlin who instantly scattered towards her, screaming like a child for its mother.

“Gremlin!” Enid used her only free hand to give Gremlin some attention. “Gremlin, where’s Osper? Where’s Bandit...?”

Gremlin attempted to show her exactly via extremely poor charade acting. He jumped in the air, and then ran in a circle, screaming as he went.

It took a miracle, but Enid realised he was trying to tell her they ‘up and ran away’, which thought meant she was alone in this meant they were safe.

“Okay, Gremlin!” Enid pointed to Blair. “I need you to get him out, okay?”

Gremlin blinked at her.

“No, stop...” Enid tried to make him turn, but he was dead set on looking at her. “Turn! Go help him! I can...”

Enid began shoving at the bar crossing her, but it was far heavier than she expected. As she pushed harder, a bead of sweat beginning to form on her face, Gremlin noticed what she was doing and began slamming his face into it, pushing it along by half an inch before it got caught on something.

Enid yelled in pain as that ‘something’ pierced further into her other leg’s thigh. “AH! Stop, stop!”

Gremlin did as it was told. Enid realised that if she didn’t remove whatever it was, she couldn’t get out. She looked at Gremlin, and then Blair, before steeling her resolve.

“Okay... Gremlin?” She pinched his cheeks together with her thumb and forefinger. “Pay attention to my voice. I need you to go to my leg and I need you to remove whatever’s in it.”

Gremlin, of course, didn’t understand. He just stood there, dumbfounded. Enid shook her head, pointing over the bar and pointing at where she assumed her leg would be.

“Go over there and pull it out!” Enid made the pulling motion. “PULL! Pull, like this! Okay?!”

... Then... In the bleak moment of clarity...

The dullest light bulb lit.

Gremlin pattered over to behind the bar. Enid braced herself, but to her surprise she felt no pain as Gremlin returned with the piece of sharp metal in its mouth. He dropped it next to Enid’s face, letting her see it was a knife blade without the handle.

“Okay, ready?!” Enid got ready to push. “One, two, three!”

And then, they began pushing again. Gremlin slammed his head onto the bar and began moving it like a strong boy while Enid barely inched it along. After a few seconds of pushing, her other arm was free, and she was able to grab the bar and hoist it away from herself, revealing the damage on her lower half.

She screamed. In that moment, she saw exactly why her right leg wasn’t hurting anymore- it was because it had been severed jaggedly at the kneecap, revealing the bone underneath.

She panicked immediately, but panicked in a way that she completely forgot about it and crawled over to Blair. “BLAIR! BLAIR WAKE UP!”

Blair opened his eyes suddenly. “H-Huh? What...”

She shook him into reality, and he quickly saw the burning building around them. “We have to go! We have to go, now!”

He was on his feet in moments. All it took was one glance at the missing leg and he was carrying Enid instead, pushing his way into the stairwell escape and heading down with shuddering footsteps.

“M-Move faster!” Enid commanded uneasily.

“I’m trying! You weigh more than you think!” For the second time that day, Blair insulted Enid with that topic. “It’s hard to carry girls, you know!”

Through the lobby they went, and Blair rushed out into the sunlight. As he went, though, he slowed when he saw the scene in front of them.

Enid panicked when she saw that Osper and Bandit were now being held execution style by crossbows to the back of their heads, courtesy of Blanche and Pathwalker.

Osper huffed. “Oh, you lived.”

“Yeah, out of the frying pan, into the fire... or would it be the other way around?” Blanche giggled intensely.

Blair turned back, ready to run, but The Nameless slammed the door shut to the apartment building. He looked left and right, seeing that the other two ways had Eon riding Wefruc and Divan standing guard, surrounding him.

Blair shakily put Enid down, who had to sit there and contemplate what was going on.

They were trapped.

It was over.

“Alright, let’s make this simple,” Eon waved her hand, still sitting in her throne. “Strip them. Take their weapons.”

Pathwalker did as he was told, using his tendrils like feelers as he searched over Bandit’s body. Osper didn’t give Blanche the chance, simply spitting on the floor and tossing three crucifix daggers to the floor, one of which still covered in Pathwalker’s blood. Considering Blanche was using his own crossbow against him, it was fair to say he’d shed that already.

The Nameless marched up to Enid, using his height and strength as advantage as he stripped her of everything that wasn’t vulgar- this including clothing, unfortunately, leaving Enid embarrassed and shivering in her bra and panties.

Blanche then grabbed something around Osper’s neck. However, despite the odds, Osper immediately slammed a cold hand around her own, looking her dead in the eyes.

“No.”

Blanche opened her hand, revealing that he was wearing a locket around his neck in the shape of a bronze oval. Enid couldn’t see what was in it as Blanche opened it with one of her nails, but whatever it was, it was enough as she shrugged and closed it, putting it back where she’d pulled it from.

“Still got her on the brain, do we dear?” Blanche laughed. “Oh, I remember the day she died. The cry you let out. It haunts my dreams.”

Osper said nothing, not giving her the satisfaction of a reaction.

With all weapons stripped from the threats, Eon puffed her pipe and clapped twice. “Good work, you lot. I think The One Beyond will be happy with what we did today.”

Bandit flicked her eyes to Blair, who stood there in shock. She wasn’t going to say anything- mostly because the fear had caught her by the tongue- but Enid could tell she was sceptical as to why they hadn’t searched him.

“Oh, and...” Eon chuckled. “One more thing.”

Enid suddenly felt cold steel against the back of her head. She was about to say her prayers when she remembered something.

Something that shouldn’t have been necessary.

The Nameless’ blade was always warm.

Enid closed her eyes, acceptance and grief hitting her all at once. Holding a knife to the back of her skull was Blair, who’s expression had changed from shock to a perfectly evil smile.

Osper tutted. “Knew it.”

Blair’s voice changed then- no more was the coward that spoke his lines like he was about to burst out crying. Now, a hardened voice echoed off the chambers of where his soul once was, making a horrific racket. “Sorry, Enid. Business is business, you know?”

Enid looked to the sky. She shook her head, tears pouring finally. “You...”

On the tops of the buildings, the faint shape of The Mascot stood, the black balloon glistening in the sunlight.

“Alright, back you come, Mirage.” Divan held his arm out like a perch. Enid watched painfully as Blair began walking to Divan’s side, but shimmered gently as the giant, black raven that had watched her cell finally revealed itself to the group. Sure enough, the bird hopped upwards onto Divan’s arm, digging the claws in.

Divan gave Mirage attention. Enid just watched.

“WEEeeeee SSSShhhhouuuulLLLLDDD GGeeeeettTTTT GOING.”

Werfuc’s static-filled voice echoed the area. It was enough to make Enid sick; all this time, she’d been talking with Blair, thinking that he was like her. Just a guy who was afraid. Who was trying to escape.

She’d never stopped to think that he was working for them. She certainly had never thought he’d be... like that.

Werfuc’s harboured form marched backwards up the street, taking Eon with it. Pathwalker hitched a ride, and in the time they’d taken their eyes off of him, Divan had vanished in a bundle of feathers. The Nameless got on all fours, sprinting up the building with harrowing speed, and Enid looked back to where The Mascot had been to see he’d gone as well.

That left Blanche, he was still staring Osper dead in the face. “Exciting, isn’t it?”

Osper sighed. “If it’s all I can do... I’ll make sure you can’t hurt anyone. Ever again.”

Blanche giggled, kissing Osper on the cheek. “It’s a date.”

And like that, she was strolling up the street, waving her hips back and forth. Bandit finally got up, wringing her hands together, while Osper barely found the effort to as well.

Enid collapsed further, lying on the floor and looking into the sky. She felt woozy. The effects of losing her leg were getting to her now, and the added shock of being almost naked didn’t help at all.

“So what now?” Bandit asked Osper gently. He didn’t respond, simply looking back up at his burning apartment.

All hope was gone. There was no other option.

“We become Husks,” Osper finally replied. “At least then the pain of everyday living is for our bodies to feel and not our minds.”

“What about our souls?” Bandit countered.

“I lost mine when she passed,” Osper argued.

Enid stared up at the burning apartment too. In her remaining time before she let the waves of death pass over her, she pretended that she could see salvation.

... And to her surprise... Salvation looked like something turning into a werewolf.

“Hello there.” Enoch laughed, landing gracefully in front of them all before holding up Gremlin as it fidgeted in his grasp. “Someone lose their dog toy?”

Enid chuckled coldly.

At least someone could be positive about this.

**CHAPTER END**


	11. CHAPTER 10- L.A.D.S. Night

# CHAPTER 10- L.A.D.S. Night

Enid awoke to the sound of classical music.

She’d remembered the trip- the blood loss got her weak, but she remembered being carried someplace. She’d heard voices, surely belonging to her allies, but they’d been mixed with the sound of dripping water and that was distracting enough for her to lose her conscious.

And now she was awake, lying on the couch of an unfamiliar home, and the sound of Mozart’s Seventh Symphony playing through the air.

“Where am I now...?” Enid rubbed her eye, once again in a place she didn’t recognise. This happened a lot, it seemed. She tried to get up, but the void of space that was now at her leg caught up with her before she could find out about it the hard way.

She lifted that leg, seeing the stub was now bandaged with tight white bandages. She rubbed that area, stimulating sensation back into it.

“Well, lookie here!” Suddenly, Enoch made his presence known from the kitchen area. “Sleeping Beauty’s finally come to her senses!”

“Ugh...” His ever-cheery tone, surprisingly, loved by a warmth in Enid’s chest. “How long was I out?”

“Two years.” A beat of pause. “Nah, not really. Another lie. You’ve been out for about four hours. Gave you blood transfusion, bandaged the leg. That’s another lie actually- Bandit did that. I watched.”

Enid looked over at Enoch. “Did... Did you carry me here?”

“Yeppers!” Enoch grinned, flashing fangs. “Welcome to First Quarter, also known as the furthest thing from the Cult!”

All at once, the memories of what happened came back to her, and she found the tears of betrayal she should’ve been shedding crossing her face.

“B-Blair...” She shook her head. “H-He... How could he do this?! We were friends! We tried to get through this together!”

“And he immediately thrust that trust like a knife,” Enoch quipped, handing her a bottle of off-brand soda. “Used your gullible nature against you. You gave him that ability.”

Enid sniffed. “You’re not helping.”

“I’m not supposed to be! After all, I’m evil.” He chuckled. Another lie. “But yeah, I know what it feels like. To have someone you once trusted against you. I think everyone has, at least once.”

Enid drummed her fingers on the bottle cap of the bottle. “T-This... this is my fault. I should’ve known... I led the others straight to Osper’s apartment.”

“No, you didn’t.”

Enid looked up. Osper was standing at the front door, looking out onto the street from the home’s window. Sitting in an armchair nearby the couch was Bandit, sleepily reading, and Enid’s head swivelled to the couch she sat on to see Gremlin dozing, snoring as he did.

“Everyone’s exhausted...” Enoch explained. “The trip took a few hours, and recovery took a few more. But I can tell you for sure that we’re safe here.”

“Osper removed the tracking dart from my neck,” Bandit added, not looking up from her book. “Sorry, I should’ve said hello. I’m just reading about the history of Tekcas...”

“You like it?” Enoch leant on the back of her armchair, spooking her. “Wrote it myself.”

Bandit nodded. “It’s... full of information. This is dating back hundreds of years. Did you really know all of this?”

“Nope!” Enoch chuckled. “Because that was a lie too. I just went through the local library’s information and scribbled it there.”

Bandit hummed as Enoch laughed. As he did, Enid got an idea, one that she knew that the others wouldn’t agree with.

“Do you think that Library has books about the Cult?”

Enoch stopped his laugh dead, going serious. “Oh, absolutely. They probably stocked it with every book in this entire town. Issue is, you’re not allowed to check the books out.”

Enid swivelled her legs to dangle over the sofa. It was going to take time getting used to seeing nothing below her right kneecap. “Then that should be our next place to look, right? We need to figure out how the Cult works, and that’ll be the best place to go.”

Osper kept looking out the window. “Enid... you need to calm down. Rest. You’re missing a leg, for crying out loud; at least wait until we’re able to replace it.”

Bandit scratched up and under the bandages over her eye. “Says here that the Library was built in 1902. Doesn’t say why... I can assume it was for probably storing books.”

“As a library does.” Enoch snickers. “I swear I’ve seen the Necronomicon in that place... lies, but it’d be cool, right?”

Enid got up, much to the dismay of Bandit. She stood there, hopping slightly to keep her balance.

“Enid, please...” Bandit stood to. “We will! We can’t do it now...”

“I’m not... giving up.” Enid used the side table to hold herself up. “I’ll fight forever if it means I can get out of here.”

“You’re an odd specimen, Enid.” Enoch crossed his arms, looking at her. “Alright, give me fifteen minutes. I’ll go get you something.”

“No.”

Osper looked over his shoulder at Enid, who ended up toppling backwards and sitting on the floor. “What do you mean?”

“Look... I’ll go get it.” Osper turned back, no equipment to his name. “Just sit down.”

Enid tried to get up again. “But I can help--”

“You COULD help, if you had two legs,” Osper snapped back. “Now Sit. Down. Me and Enoch will take care of this.”

“We will?” Enoch looked at him, confused.

Luckily, Bandit ignored Enoch and sat in between Gremlin and Enid. “We need information on the cult. Grab as much as you can.”

“Alrighty!” Enoch did a fake salute. “Back in a second!”

Enoch headed out. Osper followed without fanfare, leaving the two girls behind. Enid shared a worried glance with Bandit.

“... They’ll be okay, right?” Enid asked.

“Of course,” Bandit lied through her teeth. “I’ll bet my other eye on it.”

Hopefully, ‘in a second’ was the only part of that lie that was going to be true.

**...**

Osper reached the library entrance without any delay. Enoch’s home was a ten minute walk from the library; it couldn’t have been further than a mile, two at most. Enoch had taken to the rooftops in order to, in his own words, scout the area, but it was obvious he just didn’t want to be anywhere near Osper.

Enoch landed next to Osper with a botched landing, toppling forwards and flat onto his face. Osper didn’t so much as smirk as he headed inside as Enoch recovered, seeing that the entire interior was covered in books. A single, solitary man stood at the far back of the room, acting as the librarian, but he was old and decrepit, possibly pushing 100. He gave a small gurgle as Osper approached anyway.

“We need books on the Cult,” Osper asked outright. “Care to spill the location?”

The librarian looked up with hollow eyes, slowly but surely. Osper didn’t mind- the old coot would’ve probably broken his neck if he turned it upwards too fast.

When no speech escaped the elderly gentlemen’s lips, Osper gave up. If he wasn’t speaking now, then he probably hadn’t spoken ever. That’s how these people worked, after all.

Enoch caught up soon after. “Any luck?”

“Receptionist’s mute,” Osper stated. “No chance we’re getting anything out of him. We’re going searching it seems.”

“You expect us to find one book in a million?” Enoch crossed his arms. “I’ve got night-vision, not super-sight.”

“Shut up and start looking,” Osper demanded. “The books are in alphabetical order, so you go to the T’s and I’ll do the C’s.”

Osper walked up to the C section of the bookshelf, ignoring the snarky quip that Enoch did behind his back, before getting to work sliding books out of the shelf. It wasn’t just that they were in Alphabetic Order- they were so far into Alphabetical Order that the books were sorted by their second, third and even fourth letters, too. With that in mind, Osper rasped his fingers all the way down to ‘CU’ to see if that bore fruit.

And sure enough, he found himself grabbing the book titled ‘CULT OF TEKCAS’. Straightforward and to the punch.

Osper opened the book and began leafing through the pages. He wasn’t much for reading, but he gathered pretty much what he knew from the pages; The Cult run the city, they work underground, the Five High Guardians control the cult, etcetera.

He sighed, reading aloud to himself as he paced. “The Cult of Tekcas was founded by Henry I. Morrison back in 1776, and has been working under the rule of his continued descendants. Henry was born to Cullmary Hospice back when it was believed that the fatality rate was in the high positives- Yada, Yada, fucking Yada.”

He was about ready to toss the book aside when he thought about what he’d just read. Henry I. Morrison... Henry had founded the Cult, and now his offspring were in charge. He assumed that meant in charge of the High Guardians themselves- in that case, Pathwalker. That meant that Pathwalker was Henry’s kid, perhaps a Great-Great-Grand descendant.

Osper was then slightly distracted thinking about how stupid the name ‘Pathwalker’ was before snapping himself out of it and continuing to read.

“After the Class Divide which split the city into Four Quarters to be given by the 1%, the Upper-class, the Middleclass, and the Lower-class separately, Henry took the main office as Mayor of Tekcas City.” Osper sighed. “What a fate. Running this dump, and your Crotch-Fruit running the Cult that worked behind it. What a joke.”

Well, that’s how the Cult stayed in power, he figured. It wasn’t that they were fear-mongering others into it; it was that the father of the Cult itself was Mayor, and a very powerful one at that. It only took reading the next sentence for Osper to figure that out.

“Mayor Henry then put in place a law that the Cult may never be disbanded for any reason, and stamped approval of that law two days after creation.”

Osper huffed. What a clown.

When he was done with that book, Osper put it into the rucksack he had. There was no need to leave it behind- it could be important. Bandit apparently still knew a bit about the cult, even if she didn’t seem that way inclined.

Osper headed from the fourth row to the fifth, walking down it to see a man in his late thirties standing there. He then headed to the next aisle, seeing a man in his late thirties standing there. With a big sigh, he headed to the next one, seeing a man in his late thirties standing there.

It wasn’t after that point that he realised something- the aisle was repeating itself over and over, the books on them identical, covered in dust and without people to have read them. In his defence, the quarter aged man had been wearing different clothing every single time, so he did not see it coming.

Eventually Enoch found Osper. “Hey, you ready to go?”

“Yeah... one thing though.” Osper did a loop and made sure that it was repeating and, sure enough, it was. Enoch was standing not only in the aisle the first time, but didn’t change at all on the second loop.

“Alright, now we can go.”

“Hwah?! How did you--”

“Intuition. Now get moving.”

Osper walked with Enoch to the entrance to the Library. As they were about to leave, however, the clerk called them with a rather loud and angry ‘Ahem’ that caught them both off guard.

Enoch instantly went into his shtick. “Oh, dear! Guess we forgot to check out! Silly us...”

Osper said nothing, heading over to the counter and slapping the book on the counter. The deathly pale man gave one look at the cover and reached over to the stamping mark, having just enough energy to pick it up and plant it on the book.

He then lifted it, revealing in faint black ink the words ‘EXPIRED’, but that was good enough to get them out.

“Alright, NOW let’s get going!” Enoch smirked and pointed with his thumb to the way out. However, Osper’s neck stood up when he noticed that the doors now had shutters over them, having silently fallen while they weren’t paying attention.

Enoch followed his gaze, his smirk fading. “Aaaand of course...”

“They never make this simple.” Osper picked up the nearby sofa chair. “Alright, stand back. I’m busting through.”

Before he could even start his swing, however, something grabbed his arm and, in a sudden moment, Osper was being tossed aside like paper.

He crashed through a table, feeling every splinter cut into his back. He groaned, holding his head, to find that Enoch had barely fought off his assailant, swinging his weapon up and whipping it down and slicing through something outside of Osper’s field of vision. Enoch rushed over.

“Yo! God, you alright?” Enoch patted him over. “That was a nasty fall...”

“It’s nothing,” Osper sighed, sitting up. “The hell was that?”

“I don’t know!” Enoch said, looking over his shoulder. “This just... pure black monster burst out of the shadows and tossed you aside! I managed to snag it a few times but I don’t think I dealt any damage.”

Osper got up. “Well, we’re not waiting around to see if we did.”

“Don’t be overdramatic!” Enoch smacked his chain against his palm. “I’m sure we can beat it! We just need to find it.”

Osper looked left, and then he looked right. Before he could even think about where it could’ve disappeared to, however, he found himself looking right upwards.

Right into the dark black cloud of the swarm of insects above them.

Osper sighed and ducked as the cloud buzzed directly overhead, weaving through the bookshelf, in between the cracks in the books. It only took a second for the bookshelf to then suddenly shudder from the swarm’s intense buzzing before it flew out, taking the shelf with them.

Enoch immediately got his weapon ready. “What the hell is that thing?!”

Osper rubbed his eye, disinterested. “That’s a swarm of locusts.”

“No way,” Enoch shook his head in disbelief. “It’s co-ordinated. They can’t be locusts.”

The bookshelf was ripped to shreds, and the books floated around inside like a hurricane. Despite the noise and the now shrapnel-style wood shavings falling from the cloud, nobody seemed to care except for Enoch and Osper.

Maybe it was because, out of four people in the area, only two of them were strangers to the library.

The paper was torn to shreds soon after. Osper predicted what was going to happen, strafing backwards as the area he was standing was scorched with paper daggers. Enoch used that as an opportunity to hurtle the bear-trap end of his weapon into the swarm, seeing if he hit anything inside.

Sure enough... it did.

And Enoch was hurtled into the cloud, holding onto the chain stupidly. He yelled in terror as his body was engulfed in the cloud and, soon after, his voice was cut off completely.

Osper sighed as the weapon of Enoch dropped out of the flock, undamaged. Osper looked back to the horde as it descended to the floor, unfurling around Enoch to reveal that he was still standing.

But his mangy hide and almost feral appearance caused Osper to back up again, and the blood red eyes that now stared down him was proof enough that he wasn’t looking at Enoch anymore.

“ACTIVATION SEQUENCE,” Enoch spoke in about three different robotic voices, not including his own. “REGISTERING...”

“Oh no you don’t.”

Osper grabbed a book from the shelf, tossing it at Enoch, but the swarm that curled around him like ever-moving currents of water caught it from the air and burrowed a hole in it.

“YOU ARE...?” The voices were disinterested in Osper now, treating him like a kid.

“Osper.” He gave a straight answer. “Get out of Enoch.”

“SMART ENOUGH TO RECOGNISE WE AREN’T YOUR FRIEND?” The harmonious chuckle of three people laughed at him. “WE ARE THE LIBRARY AUTOMATIC DEFENCE SYSTEM. YOU WERE PLANNING TO STEAL FROM US.”

Osper shortened it in his head. “L.A.D.S. Makes sense all the voices are male...”

“ANSWER THIS...” L.A.D.S. continued. “WHAT HAVE YOU COME HERE FOR?”

“We needed information on the cult,” Osper told them. “Of course, since you’re refusing to leave Enoch, and myself, alone, I take it you’re not going to let that happen.”

“WE ARE DESIGNED TO PREVENT THE THEFT OF BOOKS.”

“I’m not stealing,” Osper replied sharply. “I’ve already stamped to take the book out. Now get out of the way.”

Enoch’s head reared back as the L.A.D.S. laughed uproariously. Even as they spoke, however, his mouth never moved, now nothing more than a puppet to the creatures possessing his mind now.

“LEAVING WITH A BOOK IS THEFT. WE WILL PREVENT THIS.”

Osper’s eyes scanned to the rest of the library. They’d completely wrecked one of the shelves earlier... Maybe he could use that to his advantage.

He didn’t get a chance to think of a plan, however, as the chain of Enoch’s weapon flew over his head. He ducked the next swing, seeing that L.A.D.S. was guiding his attacks with basic training. Even then, Enoch had a few of his mannerisms; he was speaking quietly under his breath, was swinging his chain like a lasso in between attacks, and seemed to almost grin with a terrible ire as he locked eyes with Osper.

The next swing- more of a strike, actually- was straight at Osper with the maws of the weapon. Osper thought on his feet, grabbing a loose book and blocking the trap which snapped closed onto the leatherback. When the L.A.D.S. felt that, they forced Enoch to whip his arm back like a fisherman reeling in his prey, which threw the book towards the dark cloud still surrounding him.

They immediately shredded the book down to atoms. Suddenly, a plan emerged in Osper’s mind as Enoch took his first laboured step towards him.

If the L.A.D.S. couldn’t identify it was him...

Then Osper could use them to his advantage.

“I’m giving you a warning,” Osper told them. “You let me and my friend go, and no harm will come to you.”

“DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TRY AND THREATEN US,” The L.A.D.S. replied. “YOU ARE INCAPABLE OF HARMING US.”

Osper shrugged. “Oh, it’s not you I’m planning to harm.”

Enoch’s head flew up then, those blood red eyes glowing like they were activating. His skill with his weapon came in suddenly as he used it like a whip, trying to snap at Osper’s hair with the trap on the end. Osper just kept walking backwards carefully, dodging those snapping jaws without much effort.

Thankfully, it appeared Enoch wasn’t in charge here. After all, if Enoch was really trying to kill Osper, he’d have done so several times by now.

Osper grabbed another book, hurtling it like a grenade into the swarm. Same deal- the L.A.D.S. caught it, ripped it to pieces and then ripped the pieces to scrap. Osper waited until the next swing before grabbing the edge of the bookshelf and pushing it over.

Directly onto the L.A.D.S. cloud.

Enoch was completely unharmed, of course- much to Osper’s dismay, it appeared that the L.A.D.S. were willing to go through anything to make sure he could keep occupying them. However, they did do exactly what Osper was planning- they instantly ripped apart the bookshelf, scattering wood and paper everywhere before sending them into a hurricane of dead tree.

Osper coaxed Enoch closer with his hands, and the L.A.D.S. system forced his feet to move in the direction of him. As they went, the library shelf was sucked into the piranha-style system, where it was promptly disposed of.

Two down. Two to go.

Osper ducked behind the next one in the row, just as the trap clamped down onto the shelf at his chest height. It tried to drag it over, but after little effort it let go, snaking back to Enoch as he gathered the chain around his forearm.

“HIDING...” The L.A.D.S. made eyeballs in the air. “BUT NOT FOR LONG.”

A giant red beam hit the bookshelf. It was directly behind Osper, and he watched in amazement as it completely disintegrated the area he was sitting in front of. As the beam moved its way down the bookshelf slowly, Osper sprinted to the other end of it, watching as the beam crawled its way along with a horrific sound.

“COME OUT, COME OUT, WHEREVER YOU ARE...” The L.A.D.S. forced Enoch to throw his weapon straight upwards suddenly, and he climbed the chain up to the chandelier- the area that his weapon clamped down on. As soon as he was up there, the scan stopped, leaving only the final little bit alive.

Osper kicked it over, showing himself. Enoch began throwing his chain at him again, ripping chunks of carpet from the floor with every miss, and Osper even got a chance to stamp it further into the ground which bought him some time. He dashed over to the man behind the desk, who had been stoically watching everything go down, and ducked as the chain flew at them again and clipped onto...

The librarian’s skull.

The Librarian, who had been completely dead all the way through their visit, didn’t even breathe louder as he was tugged into the cloud orbiting the chandelier. Osper got to see his fate if his plan failed- and he had to admit, the L.A.D.S. were efficient with how they wanted to murder him.

In the course of a single minute, the man had his skin ripped from his muscles, and then his muscles from his bones. The bones were stripped down to the marrow and the marrow, into dust. The blood that dripped didn’t so much as reach the chandelier as it was gobbled up like a greedy patron.

It gave Osper no greater satisfaction screaming out his next sentence.

“Hey Dipshit! You just killed your boss!”

Suddenly, the swarm seemed to pause. “WHAT?!”

And then they activated with far more intensity, ripping around Enoch with a vulgar buzzing. This new behaviour seemed to be some sort of frenzy mode as it drilled a hole into the ceiling of library and, by further regard, the chain of the chandelier. The entire structure fell to the ground, landing with a mighty crash, but the L.A.D.S. turned the now destroyed area into paste as they made their mark.

“HOW DARE YOU FORCE US TO DESTROY OUR MASTER?!” They screeched. Osper blinked at their anger. “WE WILL TEAR YOU APART OURSELVES!”

With that outburst, the horde emerged from around Enoch, dropping his unconscious body to the ground. They went into their cloud like form, zipping towards Osper like a javelin.

And right as they did, Osper tucked and rolled, sending the L.A.D.S. drilling into the library’s desk, and straight through it. Osper rushed over to Enoch’s side, checking his still-beating pulse.

“Strange...” Osper stood up. “They didn’t kill him. Just put him into a state of rest... Why?”

Osper turned to the swarm as it emerged from the desk. Immediately, a plan lodged itself into his head; Osper waved his hands about, making sure they kept away from the sleeping figure, before running with all his speed to the entrance of the library’s shutters.

“You want to taste flesh?” Osper smirked as the cloud darted after him intensely. “Hope you’re willing to crack the metal first.”

And, as the cloud buzzed at him, ready to turn him to mush, Osper threw himself aside, letting them taste said steel instead. As Osper expected, the enraged state of the L.A.D.S. drilled right through, breaking the shutters without a single effort. The swarm, as they’d done many times before, went right through and out into the sunlight beyond.

And like that... the cloud hit the ground like falling rain, scattering across the concrete pavement.

Osper sighed heavily. “What a parasite.”

Suddenly, Enoch groaned intensely in the background, and Osper headed over to see him finally wake up, rubbing his head.

“Ugh... What happened?” He looked up at Osper. “I was having a wonderful dream...”

“That’s a lie,” Osper extended his hand. “You weren’t dreaming at all.”

Enoch shrugged as he took the extended hand, getting pulled to his feet. “Know me too well. Where’s the black cloud?”

“Gone.” Osper referred to the open. “Left out the front door, like we’re going to.”

Enoch saw the twitching mass as it tried desperately to crawl inside. “How did you know that--?”

“It’s the _Library_ Automated Defence System,” Osper explained with a raised finger. “It only obvious that a creation like that can only reside in the namesake it came from.”

Enoch said nothing more, walking with Osper out of the library and into the street of First Quarter. Osper checked to see if the book he’d grabbed was still in the bag, which it was.

“So?”

Osper looked to Enoch again. “So?”

“Why aren’t you smiling?” Enoch smiled as he said that.

“What’s there to smile about?” Osper replied coldly.

“Are you serious?” Enoch referred back to the puddle they were standing over. “Look down, dude! You wrecked this thing!”

“Not wrecked,” Osper huffed. “I simply made it unable to work.”

“And that’s still really cool!” Enoch walked around Osper, his tail wagging like a dog’s would. “Don’t you feel anything? You’re incredible!”

Osper shook his head. “Don’t test my ego, Enoch. I’m not a hero.”

Osper walked away, leaving Enoch’s tail to stop wagging as he chased after him. “I mean... maybe not a hero, but you’re still awesome for saving me! Come on, let’s go home. I’ll put on my Beatles Record; we’ll have a dance...”

“The... what?” Osper looked at him.

“YOU...” Enoch held his heart, speaking under his breath for a second. “You’ve NEVER heard of _the Beatles_?! Only the greatest band to ever live?!”

“Are they a band?” Osper took a glance at the library again. “I guess some music would help.”

“God...” Enoch snickered. “How old are you, man?”

Enoch walked his way down the street. For a second, it was almost like a dream- Enoch was laughing and having fun, even though the streets weren’t very fun at all. Osper took out his locket, looking at the picture inside.

It was of him and his girlfriend, of course. There was no point hiding it- it wasn’t like it was a big secret that he had been dating someone at this point.

What wasn’t so obvious was the number, inscribed on the back of locket.

“Mila...” Osper spoke to himself softly. “I promise you... I’ll avenge you.”

He ran his fingers over the number. The number that haunted him- the number that marked the year that he arrived in this Godforsaken town. The year that he lost everything. The year that he was forced to see burnt into his skull every night in his dreams.

1943.

The year Osper became a resident of Tekcas City.

**END CHAPTER**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed this chapter of Tekcas City, you may enjoy a short story I wrote, too;
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/22557181
> 
> It's just if you want to! Don't feel like it's required.
> 
> \- Joseph


	12. CHAPTER 11- Building Character

# CHAPTER 11- Building Character

“So why are you so cold, anyway?”

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to.”

Osper walked down the street without meaning. Meanwhile, Enoch was acting like an overexcited kid, walking alongside him. The sound of swinging chain was really getting on his nerves.

Of course, that wasn’t the only grating sound. “Look, what do I have to do to get you to confess? Are you like an underground superhuman-soldier or something?”

“Sorry to disappoint,” was all that Osper replied with. They were five minutes away from the house- it was all he could probably last against Enoch’s words.

“Well, then you’re like a secret detective, working alongside the Cult without even realising!” Enoch rushed ahead, walking while facing Osper. “You’re crushing their defences from the inside!”

Osper spat on the floor nearby. “Mhm. Up here?”

“Okay, maybe not.” Enoch thought about it. “What about... you’re a soldier who escaped from the war, and got trapped inside the city thinking it was freedom!”

Osper managed to resist flinching.

That was close enough. “Stop talking.”

Enoch relented, albeit it without wanting to, but they managed to get home quicker in that time. Enoch did a very over-dramatic look around as he put his hand on the door handle before bursting in.

“WE’RE BAAAACK!”

Even though Osper was behind Enoch, he was taller than the 5 foot something wolf creature so he was able to into the room at the exact same time as him. And what he saw was honestly rather concerning to him.

Enid’s head reeled back from Bandit’s, looking straight to the door. “Ah!”

Bandit, too, reacted with an intense surge of panic. “You guys got back... earlier than I expected... H-Heh...”

Enoch was either completely oblivious or was able to immediately disregard what they’d just walked in on. “Victory music time! Lemme go get my records...”

Enoch hopped over the couch nearby, going through the record box under the gramophone. Meanwhile, Osper kept a deadlock on the pair, causing Bandit to erupt into a blush and Enid to rub the back of her head nervously.

“Ugh, where are all my records?!” Enoch sighed heavily. “Mmm... Osper, can you go into the backroom and see if I moved them?”

Osper looked at Enoch, who looked at him with a shady smirk. Instantly, Osper saw in his fox-like eyes that he wanted to talk to one of the girls.

So Osper relented. “Bandit, you’re with me.”

Bandit fimmicked with her bandages before getting up, following Osper into the ‘backroom’- a storage closet that was too big for its own good. Osper pretended to search around for a moment, watching to see what Bandit was doing.

The door was closed, and the sound of Enoch and Enid’s voices weren’t coming into the backroom. That was all Osper needed.

“I know what you were doing, Bandit.”

Bandit flinched the mother of all flinches. “A-Ah... I’m sorry! I know it’s so soon, but...”

Osper grimaced. “Bandit, don’t do that. I know you’ve had feeling for Enid ever since she saved you from the Cult.”

Bandit blushed heavily again. “I-It’s that obvious, huh?”

“And to be honest, I don’t blame you.” Osper was still searching, knowing that what he was searching for didn’t exist. “You’re the same age in a situation that’s lonelier than it has any right to be. If it hadn’t been today, it was going to happen further down the line.”

Bandit nodded enthusiastically.

“I love her, Osper,” Bandit admitted. “S-She... She’s so kind.”

Osper wondered if Enid even had someone else outside of the city. Not like she’d remember it at this point; clearly, Enid was way over her head at this point, and the extra security of romance would alleviate that pressure.

As long as Bandit felt the same. Which, by the look on her face, she clearly did.

“... What are we looking for, again?” Bandit asked. “I wasn’t... listening.”

Osper shrugged. “Neither was I.”

As he tried to reach up at the top of the shelves, his hands suddenly felt over a metallic box that he pulled down. He checked the box over, stroking the dust off of it.

“What do we have here...?”

Osper put the box on the floor, opening the lid. Inside he found what appeared to be a set of cultist clothing, scratch marks along the inside of the lid. Osper was aware of Enoch’s past; he was a former cultist, having abandoned them after The One Beyond made him what he is today.

Moving down further, moving the cloak aside, Osper found a couple of throwing kunai which he took for himself, and a very rusted dagger that reeked of dried copper. Bandit watched Osper pickup said dagger, looking at it in the musty light.

“That’s Enoch’s,” She pointed out. “You can’t take it... he’ll find out.”

“And when he does, I’ll remind him about the dust on the lid,” Osper replied pretty much instantly. “Don’t worry... I don’t think he’s using it.”

“But what if he thinks you’re--”

“He doesn’t use this either,” Osper pokes his temple. “It’s going to be fine.”

Bandit shivered.

“Now go be with your girlfriend.” Osper ushered her out as he begin working on something. Using knitting thread and needle, he began to work on the cultist robes.

_“Requiem.”_

Osper flinched. He closed his eyes, waiting for the voice to pass.

_“Do you know what it means?”_

Osper opened his eyes, looking over his shoulder as he sewed his War Cross to his uniform. “Requiem... it sort of means a funeral song.”

A pair of dainty hands rubbed his shoulders. “Why do you continue with this silly uniform, sweetie? You’re out of the war now.”

Osper huffed, pulling his hair over his eye. “I’d like to be remembered as a hero at least, Mila.”

“Osper...” The thick Russian English of his girlfriend diverted his attention, turning his head to her face. “You are not a soldier. You escaped with me to make new life. Why care about what this is?”

Osper sighed and looked back at his uniform, but she took his cheek and pulled his vision back. “I just fear they will come for us.”

“ _Meine liebende Lotusblume_ , you don’t need to worry about them. You heard the man at the entrance of the town- He tells us it is safe.” Mila tugged his hand, pulling him from the stool he sat at. “Now come to bed, sweetie.”

Osper’s face remained firm, but it softened as they rubbed noses with each other. She giggled and pulled on Osper’s tie, which came loose easily.

Before Osper could say another word, a knock at the door echoed out. Osper and Myla looked over in turn.

Osper looked at the clock. _“Pour l'amour de la baise_ , it’s eleven at night...”

Mila hummed, running her fingers along his cheek. “I’ll head up for now. Come up when you’ve dealt with them.”

Mila waved flirtily at him as she trotted up the stairs. Osper headed over to the door, opening it to the open air and seeing the man that stood in its wake. He was tall, taller than Osper, and seemed to sway slightly in the darkness.

“Can I help you?” Osper said sharply.

The man was wearing robes with a hood that was pulled over his face. Osper looked up into it to see that the man was looking down him a straight face.

A straight face that broke outwards into a large, sharp smile.

Osper wasn’t stupid. He was aware of what these sort of people were capable of. He tried to make it as unobvious as possible, shutting the door as slowly as possible, and might’ve gotten away with it if it wasn’t for the hitches creaking.

The man extended his arm, his hand reaching for Osper’s throat, but Osper was able to throw his entire weight into the front door and slam it shut, latching both locks closed and keeping his weight on it.

Something he was wise to do as the man began beating his hands on the door with power that shook the foundations.

“Osper?” Mila came back down the stairs gently. “What’s going on?”

“Stay back, Mila!” Osper kept his shoulder on it. “Fetch my rifle!”

Mila nodded, running to the rifle box in Osper’s corner to open it and unsheathe a MAS-36 from it. She loaded it for him, too, using one of two magazines, and rushed over to him, staying about five feet from him.

Osper waited for the next hit. The second it did, Osper ran over to Mila, standing in her way and grabbing the gun to hold it, pointing it at the door.

“Come on...” He said under his breath. “ _Laissez votre idiotie goûter les cuivres de mon arme victorieuse.”_

He made sure the weapon was ready to fire as the door dented outwards. Myla held onto his shoulders, terrified of the idea of them getting attacked by the man on the other side.

And then it knocked.

“Yo, Osper!” Enoch’s voice rang out. “You get lost in there or something?”

The closet door opened. Osper pulled the trigger on his non-existent weapon, confused when it didn’t fire, but then realised he was just hold a piece of empty wallpaper like a rifle.

“You, uh...” Enoch checked him out. “You okay there?”

“... Yeah.” Osper cleared his throat, his accent getting hid under his gravelly pain. “Just... looking around.”

Enoch looked down at the floor. “... That my knife?”

“Maybe.” Osper replied. “What does it mean to you?”

“And I see you knitted my robes into... What is this, a scarf?” He picked up the satchel that Osper had made himself. “Or is it... oh, it’s a holster. For a knife.”

Enoch put together the pieces.

“... You were going to take my knife, huh?”

Osper blinked.

“... Sure.” Enoch tossed him the holster. “I wasn’t using it.”

Enoch headed out, leaving Osper to stand there confused. He shook his head and walked forward, plucking the knife from the floor and slotting it into the holster before tying it to his belt hoop.

It fit snugly. Osper sighed as he finally felt equipped before walking out the door.

**...**

“Alrighty then!” Enoch poured out a glass of champagne as he slid another to Osper, who took it gracefully. “I’m never one to celebrate early- a lie, of course- but I think this calls for it, don’t you?”

Enid crossed her leg. “Bandit, how’s it going?”

Bandit hid her face behind the book, reading it intently. “So far I’m only reading things that I know.”

Osper swirled his glass. “What I’m hoping is that the book has information on The One Beyond. The Cult are famous enough that you could name everything they’ve done off the top of your head, but The One Beyond’s got next to nothing about what makes him special.”

As Osper talked, Enid had a pained expression. To others, it just looked like her leg, or lack of leg, was given her trouble, but in reality she was trying to remember things.

She... She couldn’t remember where she lived.

As the Beatles’ record played, Enid was the victim of small talk with Enoch. Everything he talked about sounded like a lie- about how he took on the Cult on his own, cutting through them all without a single breaking of a sweat, and how he cut off one of the Nameless’ arms as revenge for the time he punched him.

It was around then that Bandit whirred to life again. “H-Hey, I think I’ve got something...”

Osper, who’d been nursing the bottle of champagne, looked over with a curious eye. Enid and Enoch both stopped talking to turn to her.

“W-Well... Lemme just read from the book.” Bandit cleared her throat. “The One Beyond is the name given to the God that rules over the City of Tekcas. The One Beyond does not have a name, nor is it known what he is the God of- however, it should be accounted that The One Beyond has direct communication to the Cult of Tekcas via the underground.”

Enid leant in. This was exactly what they were looking for.

“Inside the Cult’s Kingdom, the name of the Underground of Tekcas, a specialised chamber has been designated where The One Beyond’s connection to the Cult is strongest,” Bandit read excitedly. “Inside this chamber, named The Grand Chamber, lays a fragment of The One Beyond after it was banished to Tekcas City during the War of the Gods--”

Enoch interrupted. “The War of the Gods? Sounds like that could be important too.”

“One thing at a time,” Osper barked back. “Keep going, Bandit.”

Bandit nodded. “The One Beyond communicates through that fragment in time. Without a direct connection to the Fragment, The One Beyond’s power would cease to exist in the Cult of Tekcas.”

Enid caught onto what the book was saying. “And without The One Beyond’s power... they have no reason to fight.”

Enoch clasped his hands. “Oh, we’ve hit the _jackpot_ with this one!”

Osper, however, seemed a little confused. “Who... Who wrote this book?”

Bandit checked the cover, holding her thumb on the page she was reading from. “Um... Doesn’t say... W-Wait, the date it was published...”

“What about it?” Enid asked.

“I-It’s... It’s today.” Bandit glanced at the calendar. “9th January, this year.”

Osper sighed. “Another anomaly in Tekcas City. How thrilling...”

“Well, it’s given us the information we need!” Enoch stood up proudly. “We just need to get into The Grand Chamber and destroy this Fragment!”

“You say that,” Osper replied. “But getting into the Cult’s Kingdom is nigh impossible.”

Enid flinched. That... That was a lie. Osper had done it before, when he’d rescued her from the Cult the first time.

“Osper, I--”

And with that, a loud thump echoed from behind them all. Instantly, Enoch swivelled to it, unsheathing his weapon, but released his combat stance and laughed when he saw what it was.

“Oh hey!” Enoch motioned to... “It’s a Coffin.”

Immediately, Osper sprung up too. “Alright, away from it.”

Bandit hid behind Enoch. “H-How did it get in here?”

“Same way they all do,” Osper replied instantly. “At random. There’s no way to call them- they just choose where to show up.”

That’s when Enid remembered something Divan told her.

“They... they also respond to a certain word.” Enid gulped. “The... The word that you said, Osper. At the end of that sentence about the Cult’s Kingdom.”

Osper thought, and then growled. “Keep away from it. Don’t give it the time of day... it’ll disappear shortly.”

“God, what are you freaking out about?” Enoch put away his weapon. “It’s a coffin, not an atomic weapon.”

“It might be,” Osper replied with venom.

“God, you’re so impatient with these things!” Enoch swaggered over, despite what Osper was saying. “Look, it’s got a lock on it- I wouldn’t be able to open it anyway.”

Yet, despite that notion...

Osper exploded.

“You get the fuck away from that thing right this second!” Osper yelled at the top of his lungs. “You even so much as TOUCH that thing and I’ll skin you alive!”

Despite Enoch’s usual tone, he did seem to flinch and go serious. “W-Whoa, dude. Chill, I...”

It only took a single look at Osper to see that he was not okay. He was shaking intensely and angrily, his face in a disgusting snarl like a feral beast. His hands were curled into fists, painfully white-knuckled from the strength he was holding them closed.

Bandit eeped. “O-Osper, your hands...”

Enid looked at them, and she saw that blood was beginning to drip from them. With a careful movement, she pulled Osper’s hand open, seeing his nails had dug into the skin of his palm and re-opened scars she didn’t know he had.

“O-Osper... calm down.” Enid tried to be as soothing in her voice as she could be. “It’s okay. Nobody’s going to open the Coffin.”

Osper took a deep, ragged breath. From the angle of which Enid was compared to him, she could see up under the hairstyle he had; sure enough, it was just that. A hairstyle. His other eye was intact, and looked to be working.

And right now, it was staring daggers into Enoch.

Enoch, however, was all too ready to back away. “Alright, alright. I’m sorry. I’ll... I’ll leave it alone.”

He took a step away from it. Osper also took a step back, dropping the act with a vicious suck of air through his teeth. Bandit, too, walked backwards and sat in the armchair she’d been present in.

Enid sighed with relief as Enoch came and sat next to her. Osper, on the other hand, decided to storm into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

That’s when Enoch looked at Enid.

“I’m gonna open it.”

“Don’t you dare--”

But it was too late. In the next moment, Enoch hopped the couch, getting on one knee and opening the lid without effort, the ‘lock’ not being there to begin with.

And yet... when he did open it, he found nothing. It was just an empty casket, the wood inside freshly painted.

“Well, that’s a shame.” Enoch closed the lid. “Was hoping for something a little more exciting.”

... No response. Enoch turned his head to see that...

In the time he’d been looking away...

Bandit and Enid were gone.

“... Ahah... well...” Enoch instantly had begun sweating. “That’s... That’s not good.”

Instantly, Enoch rushed to the front door, throwing it open. He took a single step forwards when he saw exactly what were in front of him.

And that was nothing. Pure, darkened nothing, like he was transported to the vacuum of space. There was swirling darkness inside that area, too, like black watercolour paints on black ink, swirling in a concoction of blackness.

Enoch’s lower lip shuddered as he knew where he was immediately.

“The Place Beyond...” He shuddered. “N-No. Not here. Anywhere but here.”

Enoch scrambled back, slamming the door. He turned, ready to run to where Osper had been, but found himself standing in front of Eon.

“Hello, traitor.” Eon twirled her pipe.

“... You.” Enoch reached for his weapon, but found it wasn’t there. “Why the hell am I back here? Haven’t you tortured me enough?”

Eon twirled the pipe some more. “You like the special coffin I made for you? It was designed by The One Beyond himself. I was his guiding hands.”

Enoch growled. “You’re worshipping a damn fraud! Look at what he did to us!”

“We can never die,” Eon contradicted.

“And we can’t live at all either!” Enoch countered. “You’ve been forced under his rule because you can’t hold onto your humanity!”

“I don’t need my humanity,” Eon spoke calmly, something that Enoch wasn’t doing. “The One Beyond granted me the perfect second life. It was your own fault you couldn’t accept yours.”

“Oh, yeah, unable to go three minutes without lying,” Enoch said sarcastically. “It’s a perfect life, being constantly at risk of my heart stopping.”

Eon snuffed that argument. “By all accounts, the worship towards The One Beyond has been the strong point in earning what you want. Clearly, you had nothing but hatred in your heart, even before then.”

“Oh screw that!” Enoch finally lunged, grabbing Eon by the throat and pushing her against the wall. “You know nothing! You earnt everything you got because you STOLE other people’s prayers and offering, hi-jacked off of them like the pathetic parasite you are!”

Eon’s mouth was covered by her bandana. “And what does that make you, the man who was killing our members when they didn’t do as he told them?”

Enoch’s hand shook a little.

“You were a High Guardian once,” Eon spat the truth at him. “How far you’ve fallen.”

“I was never a High Guardian,” Enoch lied back to her. “I was a puppet. A puppet for a creature that never gave me the right advice.”

Eon shook her head. “You were a puppet for the same reason the puppet jaunts the puppeteer. You thought you could command the very man with his hand up your rear.”

Enoch finally broke, tossing her aside. Eon splattered like paint against the staircase, showing she was never there in the first place- it was just an illusion, like The Place Beyond would always create.

But... it had been telling the truth. Enoch was a traitor. He was a High Guardian who turned on the Cult after he was tortured in what he became.

Enoch found no sympathy for them. He wanted them all to die, like he did that day when The One Beyond stripped him of his humanity.

Enoch blinked, feeling his soul return. He looked around, seeing that Bandit and Enid were in the room again, looking at him worriedly.

“... You okay?” Enid asked him. “You blanked out for a second there.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Nothing happened.” Enoch lied. “It was me more bracing for the repercussions.”

Enoch closed the top of the casket.

“... Alright, come on.” He hopped the couch. “Let’s make a plan for how we’re going to get into the Cult’s Kingdom.”

From the look Bandit gave him, Enoch knew instantly that she didn’t trust him.

Of course... That wasn’t the main concern now.

**END CHAPTER**


	13. CHAPTER 12- Cullmary Hospital

# CHAPTER 12- Cullmary Hospital

“This place?”

“Sure is.”

The group looked up at the hospital, towering over them with powerful oppression. After Bandit finished reading through the book back to front, Osper surmised that Cullmary Hospital should be their next location.

Of course, now they were standing in front of it, Enid could tell Bandit was having second thoughts about coming.

The original name was Colmary Hospital- The hospital where all First Quarter people would get their medical care. Of course, then the kills began rising and rising, stillborns and miscarriages adding to the botched surgery count, to the point where the staff would be rattled by the chance it was haunted. That’s why Tekcas City dubbed the hospital ‘Cullmary’- because the people inside were essentially livestock for the Gods.

And now they stood at the doors, looking into the darkened hallways. It had long since gone out of business- Guess nobody trusted a hospital with an eighty two percent mortality rate, though it was never specifically listed if that was the cause.

And right now... The group was stood in front of it. Well, stood to the best they could. Even now Enid was sick of the small digs at her lack of stance by Enoch.

“So, what are we looking for?” Enoch asked for what felt like the third time. “You keep saying ‘you’ll see’, but... I’m not seeing it.”

Osper huffed. “It’s a hospital. What do you think is here?”

“All medical’s been cleared out of this place a long time ago,” Enoch responded. “I would know. I cleaned it.”

“That’s a lie,” Osper replied, not looking at him. “You’ve never been inside the building.”

Bandit let Enid use her shoulder for aid. As the group stepped through the broken doors, into the littered floors behind them, Enid began using the walls instead.

“We’ve got a problem.” Enoch, despite not wearing shoes, was walking on the damaged and broken tiles just fine. “This place probably has a few jobbers inside.”

Bandit shivered. “It’s cold in here...”

“Should be,” Osper reminded her. “This place has no power in the middle of January.”

Gremlin scurried after the group, barely keeping up. Bandit picked him up, holding him close like a plush toy, though she was probably just doing it for warmth.

“Now we begin my plan.” Osper drew the knife he now had on him. “We ransack Cullmary hospital and then move onto phase 2.”

Osper headed off alone, despite the darkness, and Enoch snickered and hopped up into the vents to get a quick route to the roof. Enid and Bandit stuck together, however, and Gremlin blindly followed as they slowly worked their way through the hall and out into the tattered reception.

Of course, around then was when Enid had to stop and take a seat. “Ugh... this isn’t working. I’m just dead weight.”

“Oh, don’t say that...” Bandit sat across from her. “We couldn’t just leave you alone.”

“I know...” Enid sighed, putting her head in her hands. “I don’t wanna just sit around, but... there isn’t much I can do right now.”

“W-Well, we’re in a hospital, right?” Bandit put Gremlin down, letting him pitter-patter around the admittedly large reception area. “There are probably wheelchairs or something I could find for you...”

Enid looked at Bandit. “I--”

The sound of something toppling nearby caused Bandit to jump and spin that direction. Gremlin was too close for it to have been his fault, and even he seemed to be offset by the sudden noise.

“I’ll go see what that was,” Bandit told Enid. “You stay here, okay?”

Enid gave her an unamused look. “Not like I can’t NOT do that.”

Bandit gave Enid a small peck on the cheek, causing a blush from her before Bandit hurried off to see what it was. Gremlin stayed behind with Enid, looking at her with those familiar bugged-out eyes.

“... What do you think, Gremlin?” Enid asked him. “Do you think I’m going to get out of the city?”

Gremlin just stared, blinking one eye at a time.

“... Wrong person to ask.” Enid rubbed her eyes. “Though even silent, I know what you’re thinking- though it really is probably just intense screaming.”

Gremlin ran in a circle.

“Osper said you were unique, you know.” Enid picked him up, holding him at arm’s length from face. “Apparently, all of your kind is. What makes you think? What makes you... you?”

Gremlin’s eyes begin to slowly look in two different directions as she continued talking.

“I guess I’m just rambling now, aren’t I?” Enid sighed again, putting Gremlin on her lap. “It’s a combination of boredom and... intrigue I guess. You’re really cute, in like that ‘stupid puppy’ way.”

Enid watched him blink and then keep looking up at Enid’s face, though his eyes did drift past it.

“I just wish I knew how things like you came into existence...” Enid closed her eyes, smiling. “And where the rest of you are... Osper said you’re common here, and I’d love to see how common that is.”

Enid put her head back, meaning to put it on the cushion of the chair, but her head stopped halfway as something hit against it. She froze, pausing, opening her eyes to see the shadow of someone standing over her from behind.

She bit the inside of her cheek as she realised there was something akin to a gun barrel pushed against the soft spot of her skull.

Enid couldn’t fight back, of course. She had no reason to if she could- even with two legs, there’d be no way to dodge a bullet fired at her like this.

So, she tried her hand at negotiation. “... P-Please. Don’t do this.”

Silence responded to her as Gremlin kept staring.

“I-I’m sorry... I didn’t know you were here...” Enid slowly raised her hands in surrender. “I’ll go. I’ll leave, I won’t come back. Please... don’t hurt me. Don’t hurt my friends.”

Again, for a while, there was nothing. It wasn’t until Enid finally saw Gremlin’s eyes sparkling that she had a very, very sinister thought...

And the thing holding her hostage let loose a familiar noise at a much lower octave.

**...**

Bandit walked through the hall, cowardly testing the handle of each door. Maybe it was just the hospital settling, or Enoch messing around in the vents, but for as long as she was able she had to make sure it wasn’t anything dangerous. Who knows- maybe she’d find a new friend, or maybe even the medicine they were looking for.

Osper hadn’t really told her what that medicine was, but she could assume that it didn’t really matter. Bandages for her, maybe anti-depressants for him, painkillers in general because they were always important. That’s what they were looking for.

Eventually, her gaze settled to the door at the end of the hall. She wasn’t sure, but she swore she could hear more noises behind it that only became more evident as she continued approaching. The window of the door was frosted glass, meaning she couldn’t look into it from where she was- even approaching further, however, showed that there was nothing to be afraid of.

So why was Bandit so terrified?

“It’s just a rat...” Bandit kept repeating that to herself as she laid her hand on the door handle. “It’s just a rat... it’s just a rat.”

She pushed open the door with as little noise as she possibly could muster. The creaking of the hinges completely masked her entrance, letting her stand in the darkness of the room without worry she was spotted.

Now she was up close to it, she could definitely hear the sound of munching jaws. Something was eating in the darkness, and Bandit’s eyes weren’t adjusting to it fast enough for her to see what it is. With no light to turn on, and no flashlight to shine, Bandit just had to wait for it to either move or for her eyes to get used to it.

Both options happened quicker than she was expecting.

A sudden shrill scream echoed the hallway behind her, and Bandit found her head swivelling towards the noise without realising. The sound also attracted whatever was in the room, which looked up with a small crow’s chirp, and Bandit looked back to see the glossy reflection of two bulbous black eyes. Bandit backed out of the room in an instant, falling backwards onto her rear as the thing she’d tried so hard not to alert reared up on its hind legs.

It screeched into the air, the jaw of the creature unhinging to accompany the mighty bellow. Bandit knew the scream. She’d heard it so many times before.

It was the scream of... Gremlin. Sure, not HIS cry exactly- this one was far higher, coming out in three separate breaths like a slowed down dog bark, but Bandit only needed see the fur of the creature as it landed and waddled forwards that she finally understood.

The Clamor Furrure was alive.

And they lived in Cullmary Hospital.

The one now coming out of the dark room was shaped much like a crocodile- it had the long snout, the two eyes sitting facing the front above it, and it had to move dragging itself along the ground with its front legs as the hind ones were too short and malformed to walk with, acting more as two more tails that it hauled behind it. It made the familiar sound again, revealing that unlike a crocodile it was toothless, only an endless maw inside.

Bandit got to her feet after tripping twice more, running in the opposite direction as it yelled after her. She ran into the reception, ready to grab Enid and get out, when her eyes came across a disturbing sight- another one, far bigger than the others, was holding Enid in its big meaty hand and was rubbing her against its face as she tried to squirm out of its grasp.

“ENID!” Bandit sprinted over, just in time to grab her hand as the large one began trying to push Enid inside of its own body. It could very well fit them both inside the deep fur it apparently suggested to having, the head of the monster scraping the top of the roof that was almost fifteen feet above them.

Enid was pushed leg first into the Large One. She held on tightly to Bandit, but something inside the Large One was pulling her deeper in and was threatening to pull Bandit in with them.

“DON’T LET GO!” Enid yelled at Bandit. “PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON’T LET GO!”

That wasn’t Bandit’s choice to make- with the large mitt it had used to push Enid inside itself, the Large One batted Bandit across the room like a mosquito, crashing her through the benches set up to hold the ghosts of patients passed.

Bandit gripped onto her consciousness, barely getting back to her feet; just in time to see the Large One put his hand over Enid’s face and shove her fully into his own body, where he let loose a triumphant roar like an elephant trumpet. For a second, it looked like it was going to try and snag Bandit too, but it turned away and crashed onto the floor, becoming a pile of reddish hair and crawling out the door like liquid through a pipe.

That’s when the Croc One caught up, wandering in like a lost child. It make a few more calls out, getting a response, where it followed the sound out.

Bandit was in tears as she watched it go. Enid... She had to go save her. She got up, shaking off her daze, before getting ready to run in the same direction.

And then, from the vents flew Enoch, who crashed through the exact same bench that Enid had been sitting on. Bandit flew backwards, terrified, and then confused as Enoch got to his feet and began smacking his own back.

“Get ‘em off, get ‘em off!” He spun, revealing a bunch of fluffy orbs were clinging on by their tails. “HEEEELP!”

Bandit rushed over, hitting them over and over with his fists. Enoch yelled out in pain as Bandit just begin punching him when the fluffy orbs dropped from Enoch and scattered by hopping up onto their tails and kicking their baby feet in they were cycling, sliding away.

“Okay, okay, that’s good- stop hitting me!” Enoch pushed her hands away. “God, you’re lucky you didn’t hurt me.”

The screaming in pain begged to differ.

“Enid got taken by a big guy.” Bandit didn’t really know how to describe it, so she said what she knew. “I... I couldn’t save her, I...”

“Hey, hey, hey...” Enoch put his hand on her shoulder. “... True. But that doesn’t mean you can’t go and save her now, probably.”

Bandit blinked. “T...Thank you?”

“Alright, let’s find Osper!” Enoch clapped his hands. “I’m sure he’ll be around here someone. You know that guy- all talk, no walk, as I like to say! While we were in the library I...”

Enoch began just talking then. She wasn’t really listening as her head moved around frantically, looking at the walls for some way to distract herself from the verbal garbage Enoch was so skilled in spitting.

Funnily enough, what she found was far more than a random story from Enoch. She walked over to the frame hanging on the wall, hanging above a plate that hung below it.

**EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR**

COLMARY VALENTUS

_(CERT. 1983)_

Bandit felt her skin run cold, taking the frame off the wall and holding it up in front of Enoch’s face with shaky hands.

“And that’s why I was- what’s that?” Enoch walked over, pulling the top of the frame downwards. When he saw who was in the picture, he gave the only conformation that Bandit needed. “Oh, hey, it’s... me.”

His face fell. Bandit dropped the picture, letting it smash on the floor.

“You... You’ve been lying about your name?” Bandit gulped. “This whole time, you’ve been using your nickname instead.”

“Okay, hold on.” Enoch’s entire demeanour changed in a second. “Look, technically I’ve never lied about it being my NAME. It’s a nickname! It’s just a name for people who hate their original name.”

“How do you get ENOCH out of COLMARY?!” Bandit found herself yelling. Stress was getting to her. “Why Enoch, of all things?!”

“Well--”

“Short version.” Bandit tapped her foot, trying to seem angry.

Enoch sighed. "By faith, Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation, he had this testimony, that he pleased God."

Bandit shook her head. Bandit was avoiding the question.

“Look, I took Enoch because Enoch was a character from the bible that lived 365 years and aged just as slowly!” He growled, feral rage gathering now. “It was kinda the whole point of joining the cult!”

“And you’ve worked in this hospital!” Bandit pointed at the nameplate. “You... You knew about... you...”

Bandit felt something connect in her mind she knew she should say aloud, but did anyway.

“You... You knew about this. You knew the hospital would be empty.”

Enoch began backing away as the 4’11’ girl began walking at the 5’9’’ fox creature, making him seem like he was scared of her. “H-Hey, now hold on...”

“You could’ve stopped this!” Bandit yelled, going furious. “You could’ve told us there was nothing here, and you didn’t! You’ve just subjected us to whatever’s in here because you couldn’t say the truth!”

Enoch was now nervously tugging at the chain of his weapon. “Now hold on a second! Just because I knew this place was empty doesn’t mean I knew the Clamor Furrure took up refuge here, okay?! I haven’t been here since the shutdown in ‘85!”

Bandit flinched. Another thing he’d been hiding.

“You know the exact date?!” Bandit stopped, thought, and started up again. “... You know how it happened, don’t you?”

“No!” He paused. “Y-Yes...? Stop yelling at me, it feels weird to be bossed around by a midget--”

“TELL ME!”

“Okay, Jesus H. Montgomery!” Enoch was now fully pushed back against the wall. “I-It was the Cult, okay?! The Cult did it!”

“You told us the Cult had no order in First Quarter.” Bandit stayed in his face.

“They don’t! But they used to.” Enoch spoke under his breath angrily before continuing aloud. “The tunnels of the Cult run under everything. There’s no historical place not connected to them. All it’d take is me finding the old service tunnel.”

Again, Bandit yelled. “What did you do?!”

“I didn’t do ANYTHING!” He yelled back, trying to gain some ground against her. “It was in ’85 I became this. I didn’t participate in its destruction, cross my heart!”

Bandit shook her head slowly at him. “If you’re lying to me...”

“Honest!” He put his hand up like he was about to speak at trial. “I swear on the God that’s cursed my blood, I’ve said nothing but the truth to you except the one I told myself to keep myself alive.”

Bandit gave him a quick once over before taking a step back and relenting. “Okay... O-Okay. I believe you, Enoch.”

“Actually... It’s Colmary.” He sighed outwards. “If we’re telling the truth, you might as well start using my name before I became part lupus.”

“... Were you named after--?”

“After the hospital, yes, not the other way around.” Colmary’s tail began wagging. “My mother named me it when I was born to celebrate the hundredth successful birth in the facility.”

“And when was that, exactly?” Bandit asked peacefully.

“Well, I was twenty six when I died,” He joked. “So you can do the math.”

The sound of crashing echoed from up the hall nearby, but not the one that they’d come from or gone to- it was the way further into the hospital, where many failed surgery had been performed. Bandit looked to Colmary, who looked back at her with a deep sigh.

“Osper?” He asked.

“A-Almost certainly. Let’s go.”

Bandit led Colmary through the hospital, no weapon to guard herself. Bandit had to keep reminding herself of what she’d heard from him- how he was involved in Cullmary Hospital’s destruction, and was part of the medical staff before he turned to the bad side. She tried to ignore that niggling feeling in the back of her mind that he was lying- after the performance he put on telling the truth, she’d be sure to hold it against him.

Still, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of guilt in her heart. Enid had been captured, and now it was up to Bandit and the others to save her. What if she was already dead? Would the Clamor Furrure do that to her? It didn’t seem like they would; they were too fluffy and nice, right?

They... they did put her in some sort of furry jail, though. Maybe she was being used as a bargaining chip or something... what would the Clamor Furrure even bargain for in a trade? They didn’t need to eat or sleep or even breathe.

Colmary tapped Bandit’s shoulder. “You good there?”

“S-Sorry... I’m just worried about Enid...” Bandit rubbed her arm.

“You two get along really well,” Colmary pointed out the obvious. “Have you considered asking her to date you?”

Bandit looked away shakily, blushing. “L-Little early for that.”

As Colmary moved past her, opening the door in front of them, he made her face even redder by leaning in and whispering in her ear.

“Don’t worry. She feels the same way.”

And that was all that was said about that as they moved through into a smaller reception. This place had two wings- the ‘TM AN RCV’ wing and the ‘MTY’ wing, which Bandit quickly translated in her head.

“Trauma and Recovery, and Maternity.” She looked down both hallways as Colmary entertained himself with the weird puzzle table that was present in every good hospital reception. “Which way do you think Osper went?”

Colmary snickered. “Well, he doesn’t have children.”

“I’m sure he would’ve made a great father,” Bandit joked, then immediately felt sorry afterwards. “I-If his girlfriend was still around, I suppose...”

Colmary spun a red cube around the metal wire. “Yeah, about that... he ever tell you what that’s about? I’ve just been hearing snippets and stuff, and then was held up by an empty Christmas Wrapping tube in my own closet.”

Bandit shook her head. “All he told me was she was sacrificed to The One Beyond against her will, and he’s been trying to find a way to get revenge for a long time.”

“I’d still like to know how long that is,” Colmary voiced both of their opinions on the matter. “It’d make putting together his ever-complicating feelings a little easier.”

Bandit looked at Colmary as he got up, cracking his back.

“Well, he has PTSD,” she told him. “Though he won’t tell me of what. We spent a few weeks together as roommates, and he’d stay awake until three in the morning outside my door.”

“Doing... what?” Colmary’s tail drooped.

“Just... protecting me, I think.” Bandit poked her fingers together. “He gets four hours of sleep on a good night. Sometimes I hear him crying... and then some nights he speaks a different language.”

Colmary crossed his arms. “How do you know all this?”

“The walls of the apartment were paper-thin. You could whisper and the person on the other side of the block could hear you.” Bandit sighed, picking up a non-descript bottle on the reception desk before putting it down. “Though I do miss it... it was always so refreshingly cool at night.”

“Yeah, that makes one of us.”

Bandit jumped out of her skin at the voice of Osper, who leant against the wall to the Trauma and Recovery wing. “OSPER! How long were you listening?”

“Long enough.” Osper shook another bottle at her before putting it into a medical satchel. “And the language I was speaking is French, Bandit. I thought I told you this.”

Bandit looked to the floor guiltily.

“Enoch--”

“Colmary,” he corrected.

Osper just gave him dirty eyes, not questioning it. “ _Colmary_. Need your help with something.”

“Sure thing.” Colmary jogged over, following Osper, almost leaving Bandit behind who had to run after them. “What’re we looking at?”

Osper walked straight, never looking at the pair. “Door at the far back of the medical storage. Needs a key to open, but I ripped the lock off. Just need you to come see what I saw.”

Colmary slowed slightly, but kept up still. “What you saw...?”

They walked into the medical storage, cold to keep the pills fresh. Instantly, Bandit picked up on abnormality- if the rest of the building had no power, then why did this place have it?

Osper walked over to the back door again, pulling it open without effort. Colmary looked into the room, but immediately noped away from it, repeating the word a few times. Bandit then walked over, seeing what they had both seen, and a shiver ran up her spine when she saw herself looking directly into the eyeballs of a very human-looking Clamor Furrure.

Osper shut the door again. “Looks like we found where they’ve gone.”

Colmary picked up the lock, examining it. “This is a bike lock; there’s no way something like them is smart enough to do this.”

“Then...” Bandit put two and two together. “Something’s working with them, right?”

Bandit nodded. “Here’s the plan- we head out, come back tomorrow more equipped.”

“Good plan,” Enoch nodded.

“No, that’s a bad plan, they’ve got Enid,” Bandit reminded the pair. “We’re not leaving here without her.”

Osper tutted. “Took Enid but left Gremlin?”

Bandit realised he was looking passed her. She turned slowly, seeing that Gremlin was standing there silently, twitching and spasming as he kept his head above his non-existent shoulders.

“... Gremlin?”

Gremlin screamed, pushing himself into the floor vent and getting away. Bandit dove after him, crawling to see if she could see him getting through, but was met with the absolutely terrifying view of over a hundred black bulbous eyes.

Bandit scampered backwards when a fluffy hand flew out of the vent, trying to grab her face, only for it to retreat after Osper curb-stomped it back into it.

Osper looked at Bandit.

“This place is crawling with them,” Osper told her. “I’ve heard them everywhere. It’s like something’s settled here.”

“Something HAS settled here,” Colmary corrected him again. “The Clamor Furrure. They’re territorial by nature; we’re in the midst of a damn colony if anything!”

“Then there’s a heart,” Osper surmised. “Or at least a brain. They’re hive minded, after all- all Clamor Furrure work off a mother.”

“Like... that...?”

Bandit pointed shakily... as a group of fluffy tendrils weaved out of the cracks above them.

**END CHAPTER**


	14. CHAPTER 13- The Ones Buried Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: Implied Self-Harm

# CHAPTER 13- The Ones Buried Away

For what felt like the umpteenth time, Enid woke up in an unfamiliar situation.

At least this time it was comfy- the soft plush fur she lay on was comfortable under her fragile body, the clothes she wore not acting as much defence against the colder elements. The more she looked around, however, the less the temperature made sense- it appeared that the entire area was covered in fur of all colours of the rainbow, and a lot that didn’t too.

It did take a moment for her to remember. “Bandit!” She flew up, trying to get to her feet, once again forgetting she only had the one to stand on and collapsing onto the soft carpet floor.

She lay there a while, thinking pitifully to herself. She’d gotten... eaten? Was that the right term? By some giant red monster that looked like Gremlin. Considering Gremlin wasn’t here, and neither was the rest of the group, Enid had probably been consumed and digested and was now resting in purgatory.

... She really had to stop jumping to conclusions.

“Hello, there!” The sound of a voice she didn’t recognise perked her head up, and she found herself looking up suddenly. “Need some help down there?”

Without her asking, the man pulled her up and sat her on the slab of fur she’d been on beforehand. There, she got a good look at him- he had soft brown hair and pale skin, one of his eyes brown and the other grey, with a tooth pick hanging from his lip. He wore robes that fell to his feet, no shoes on them, and his trousers and shirt were made of patchwork leather that attempted to make it stand out against the fur necking that the robes had.

He looked like royalty. Of what, Enid wasn’t sure.

“... Hi.” Enid didn’t feel scared- in fact, quite the opposite. The man didn’t seem capable of hurting a fly. “My name is--”

That’s when she heard purring, and something rub itself against her leg. She flinched, looking to see her dangling limb was currently being pawed at a tiger.

No, not a tiger.

Tigers don’t come in neon green with blue stripes.

“Archie!” The man patted the creature’s flank. “Come on! Give her some time to come around!”

Archie, in all its dazzling glory, made a small purr that echoed into a yelling meow. It circled around the man to stand behind him, letting him sit on its back cross-legged.

“W-Who... Who are you?” Enid asked.

“My name is Rex.” He wiped down his robes of loose hair. “Long ago, I declared myself the king of the Clamor Furrure, and they have since obeyed me as their king.”

“... Enid.” She put a hand to her chest. “Where is this?”

“Full of questions, aren’t we?” Rex chuckled. “You’re currently inside the special bunker, crafted specifically for holding worthy title-holders.”

“Come again?” Enid blinked.

“The Testudine Munitum, Friend Enid.”

Again, Enid blinked as this time she motioned she was now even more lost.

“... It’s where the Clamor Furrure take people they catch, Friend Enid.” Rex stood, letting Archie lick his palm with a black tongue. “They aren’t the smartest, bar Archie here.”

Enid went to speak when the bed she was sat on began moving, the fur coat it had covering a thousand tiny insect legs. She looked down, seeing finally that it itself was a Clamor Furrure, one whose eyes were on the front of the bed.

“Don’t mind Lectulo,” Rex made sure to tell her. “He’s aware you’ve only got the one leg, so he’s gonna make it easier as we travel.”

As they spoke, they began travelling through winding tunnels, populated by the unique creatures. Not a single one was repeated, except for the few that seemed to work in packs like the small orb style ones with the big tails. Enid just watched in amazement as they went through, Rex staying silent as he trudged across the fur.

“As you can see,” He eventually did say, “We’ve been down here a while. The Clamor Furrure is very territorial, and make sure to prove that by coating their hair everywhere.”

“And what about you?” Enid asked him. “What’s your role here?”

“Well, isn’t it obvious?” He motioned around, another of the Clamor Furrure landing on his arm, gripping on with way too human style hands that acted as claws. “My job is to watch and protect them.”

He gave the one who landed on him tickles, calling it ‘Unguibus’.

“Protect from... who, exactly?” Enid asked, crawling up and using Lectulo’s head as a sort of resting podium.

“The Cult, of course.” Rex smiled. “And, of course, anyone who threatens my kingdom. The Clamor Furrure work on a hivemind- they’re willing to follow the rule of anyone who can provide for them.”

“You... control all of this...” Enid looked around, more a statement than a question. “But... how? I thought these things just did what they wanted.”

“They do! Mostly.” Unguibus flew off of Rex, back into the ceiling where it rested. “Though if commanded, they’ll listen. I mean, I didn’t ask Magnum to come collect you; he did it of his own idea.”

“W-What about my friends?! Are they in danger?”

Rex shook his head. “They’re safe. Despite what it looks like, a Clamor Furrure has no hostile tendencies. Protection, yes, but no unprovoked retaliation.”

“Did you tell them to do that?” Enid replied with a question.

“Nah, that’s just hardwired into them.” Rex finally stopped on some sort of upper passage overlooking a cliff into a bottomless pit. “... You’re not from around here, are you?”

Enid sighed, shaking her head. “I... I don’t even remember why I came here in the first place.”

“Yep, that’s the city draining your memories.”

“I’m aware.”

Rex laughed, his voice booming into the pit before he turned and heading in the other way. Lectulo followed, leading Enid through more bizarre scenery that all began to blend together from the colours.

Enid continued. “What about you? How long have you been here?”

“I...” Rex paused in speech, but not in movement. “You know... I don’t know. I’m sure I came in from outside the city, but don’t hold me to that.”

Enid could recognise that. He had an accent that made him sound from outside of Great Britain- probably American or somewhere around there.

“Do you at least remember when... all this, started?” Enid motioned vaguely. “Surely this wasn’t a first-day thing...?”

The fact Rex didn’t respond for a moment honestly made Enid worry.

“I’d say that... about a year or two after getting trapped in the city, I found my home amongst the nests of the Clamor Furrure.”

Enid shook her head. “That’s... not what I was asking about.”

Rex, luckily, saw right through her attempt to play coy. “... Cullmary Hospital was still in power when I arrived for the first time. I worked along the staff to try our best to keep everything running smoothly. Abel... Magdalene...”

“... Enoch.”

Rex looked over his shoulder, giving her the understanding look she’d wanted from him. “A nickname. He went by Colmary, named after the hospital.”

In her head, she built her theory- Rex was a doctor of Cullmary, while it was still in power, and worked alongside Enoch to try and keep everything in line. When the Cult broke out, one was turned into the part-fox creature, and the other escaped to the ‘nests’ of the Clamor Furrure.

But that left one question she didn’t dare ask.

Why wasn’t he taken, too?

Rex stopped to admire the scenery around them. “They never get less fun to look at. Fun to help build, too.”

“You helped BUILD them?!” Enid said, shocked.

“Handcrafted half the tunnels myself. Terebro did the rest.” As they walked past him, Rex pointed out Terebro who appeared to be a rather large mole looking creature with an honest-to-god mining drill in his chest. “He eats rocks. Most of the Clamor Furrure does, too.”

“Except Gremlin...” Enid added.

“Gremlin?” Rex spun, looking at Enid. “Sorry, is this one I’ve lost track of?”

“I’m... still not entirely sure myself.” Enid looked down. “He’s bright pink, has one tooth, no arms and little pattery feet. Big eyes... though I guess everyone else does too...”

Rex thought for a moment. As he did, he walked in an unknown direction- both figuratively and literally at this point- and arrived at a weirdly shaped room that seemed to contain...

Actual eggs.

“What is... this?” Enid looked around at them, their shells shining with different colours like Easter Eggs.

“Well, this is how the Clamor Furrure reproduce.” Rex stroked along the eggshell. “We have a few dozen of them running around, but it never hurts to have more.”

Enid felt a small pain in her heart as she realised something she didn’t expect to know.

“... The Cult has been hunting for them, haven’t they?”

“Attempting to use their furs in their robes,” Rex replied instantly. “Hunting them to near extinction. They used to be as common as pigeons once upon a time, and now... They may as well be on the critically endangered list.”

Archie made the sound it made earlier, rubbing up against the legs of Rex.

“So, that’s why I’m here,” He explained. “I act as a guide, not because I see fit to but because they attached onto me as their leader.”

Enid sighed. Her next request was going to be difficult, then. “We... We have to stop them.”

“How do you suppose we do that?” Rex responded, cocking an eyebrow.

“Well, we’d need an army.” Enid tried to lay it down easy. “You’ve heard the rumours, right? About how many people the Cult have in their midst?”

Rex seemed to pick it up. “I... I can’t have them fight, Enid. They’re already so weakened from what’s been going on.”

“How many even are there?” Enid asked genuinely. “Are there really so little?”

“Well, there’s Archie...” He patted Archie as he said that. “Then there’s Lectulo, the one that you rest on, Unguibus and Terebro, who we met earlier... then you’ve got Magnum, who brought you here, Longus, Peritibis, the Torque Quinque, Cochlea--”

“A lot more than I was expecting you to know the name of,” Enid cut him off.

“Oh, I know them all by name,” Rex replied. “You spend the majority of a decade with them, you learn what they like to be called.”

“They’re also all...” Enid rolled her hands over each other. “Uniquely named?”

“You wouldn’t be saying that if you could speak Latin,” Rex countered. “Now, Enid... Can’t help but notice your predicament right now.”

“I mean...” She shifted uneasily. “Not hard to see that.”

“Well then, how about we talk this over a little bit more elsewhere?” Rex moved with Lectulo. “After all, I’ve got this wonderful little place we can go... It’s got just what you need.”

Enid could only imagine what that meant for her.

**...**

Bandit beat at the limbs holding onto her wrists, trying to free herself. Osper was busy trying to pull himself free too, except from every angle instead, leaving Colmary to try and pull him back to the ground.

Bandit felt her feet give out from under her, but she scurried to get the back onto ground. “What is this thing made of?!”

“It’s fur! It’s all fur!” Osper got one of his legs free, kicking another limb with enough power to get an arm free. “They have brains, albeit small.”

Colmary got his weapon on the go, throwing it up and through a few more limbs which rustled back into the floorboards like their own entities. Once Bandit found her strength to pull her arm free, enough of the fur had been torn away that the monster inside the roof tiles saw it fit to flee.

Osper dropped to the ground, just laying there in a combination of anger and tiredness. Bandit dropped to one knee for relief and anguish, but kept her eyes watching above. Colmary just reeled his weapon back, swinging it, ready for another fight.

“So... weapons.” Osper sat up, rolling his eyes. “Scalpels, bone saws, anything that can be used on fur.”

“Already kept an eye out, no dice,” Colmary clicked. “This place is cleared out.”

“Speaking of...” Bandit gave Colmary a look. “I think it’s time for you to explain yourself.”

As the trio walked through the abandoned hallways of Cullmary Hospital, Colmary finally spilt the truth about everything that he’d been involved in- from the time he’d worked at the hospital to the day the Cult tried to invade. How they’d captured him with the intent of making him a High Guardian, but how he rejected his newfound Godhood after what he became found him suffering instead.

He also dropped the bombshell that he didn’t actually need to lie to survive. He was simply a compulsive liar, hiding his true identity under the guise of a thousand loose-pointing arrows.

By the time he was done, and they’d both been caught up to speed, Osper was a lot less trusting than he was, which is to say not at all. “Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you, here and now.”

“Because I’d fight back?” He responded.

“Besides that,” Osper growled angrily.

“Because... at the end of the day, Osper, I’m still on your side.” Colmary leant on the wall of the maternity wards entrance, the area they now found themselves at. “I want the same thing you do. I want to see the cult dead.”

“No. You don’t want what I want,” Osper replied, pointing at him. “I want to see HER dead. The one who took my life from me.”

“Eon isn’t the only enemy, Osper!” Colmary yelled, getting up.

“It isn’t her, either.” Osper growled at Colmary.

Bandit wanted to get involved, but her legs had gone stiff, forcing her to watch the argument brew.

“Who then?” Colmary got up in Osper’s face. “Who in that Cult is responsible for ‘stealing your life’ besides the girl who literally sucks the life out of you?!”

“Blanche.”

Colmary seemed to pause. “W-Who?”

Osper shoved Colmary back, which didn’t start a fight but definitely put one on the backburner. “Blanche. The succubus, the witch of black ire. The bitch that killed my girlfriend.”

Bandit saw on Colmary’s face that he was resisting the urge to say something, but he managed to say it loud enough under his breath that Bandit couldn’t get between the pair quick enough to stop the volume.

“No, go on.” Osper pushed Bandit aside. “Say that again. I didn’t quite hear you.”

Colmary scrunched his eyes before opening them again.

“Sorry to be so blunt...” Not the sentence he said- more a precursor to what he did say. “But who gives a shit?”

Osper stood there, frozen, staring daggers at Colmary.

“People... suffer. That’s what the city does.” Colmary pointed at the ground, trying to amplify his point. “What happens down there doesn’t mean jack to you? All of this, all this time- fighting back against the driving force behind the misery of ten thousand residents and many more unfortunate souls- is for YOU to avenge a woman that only you knew. That’s what you’re trying to say?”

Osper’s silence answered the question.

“... It is.” Colmary crossed his arms, disappointed. “You never gave a shit about any of us, huh? You were going to use us as leverage to get underground and enact what you wanted to do.”

“Colmary-” Bandit put her hand on his shoulder. “-That’s enough, please.”

Colmary didn’t listen, just continuing to speak in that angered yet understandably heartbroken tone. “You think you’re the only person who lost someone important, Osper? You think you’re the first one who thought their side of the coin was heads?”

Osper’s reply was voiced by a pure, unaltered rage. “You are stepping on thin ice here, Colmary.”

“I spilt my heart to you, Osper.” Colmary pushed his luck. “I told you everything about me. I told you the truth, something that’s REALLY hard for me to do, and you won’t even tell us what you’re really doing here.”

Colmary shed his weapon, throwing it to the ground.

“I’m not fighting your war for you,” He told him. “Fuck you, dude, and fuck your girl--”

That’s when Osper exploded, hurtling himself at Colmary and slamming him into the wall by his neck. Bandit could only watch as the plaster of the wall fell away, revealing the drywall behind it. For the slightest of seconds, it looked like Osper was about to break Colmary’s neck, but didn’t do anything to him- instead, he just held him there with his forearm, enough pressure behind it to choke a standard man.

But Colmary, of course, was no standard man.

“Do you know... how many times I’ve heard that said?” Osper looked directly into Colmary’s eyes, who despite keeping a straight face seemed to be bricking it. “How many times I’ve heard those meaningless words, in every single different context, in every way they can be said?”

“Enough to lose track?” Colmary whimpered back.

“Enough to keep tally.” Osper pulled back his sleeve, revealing a ton of self-inflicted scars in his arm. “One hundred and fifteen. ‘I’m not fighting your war’... usually met with bullets and a mutiny charge.”

Bandit gulped. “G-Guys... please...”

“Look at me.” Osper forced Colmary to look at him. “I did exactly what my sergeants told me, you know. I never fell behind on an order. I kept my spirit through the entire war, and you know what that got me?”

Colmary didn’t even try to reply.

“You know what it got me?!” Osper replied, slamming his forearm into his neck again. “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder! So FUCK YOU, Colmary! Fuck you and your fucking idea of what’s right! I did what I did to escape it, and here I am, sucked RIGHT BACK IN!”

At this point, Colmary’s steel expression had gone into a soft terror. Bandit tried to pull Osper off of him, only succeeding after she got in between the pair. Osper stormed out, leaving the pair behind as Bandit tended to Colmary as he choked gently.

As he left, Osper said something in French. _“Ce n'est pas la colline sur laquelle je meurs...”_

“Y-You okay?” Bandit asked, watching him leave down the corridor.

“Yeah, I’m fine...” He wiped his eyes of the tears forced out of him. “Guess I used the wrong words, huh...?”

Bandit helped him to his feet, to which he retrieved his weapon and swung it around his body as always. “Did you see his arm...?”

Colmary nodded. “He... he did that to himself.”

“To honour the fallen soldiers he worked with,” Bandit finished. “He told me about it, during my first week of recovery... He says he doesn’t remember their names, but he remembers what happened to them.”

“What... did, happen to them?” Colmary asked stupidly.

“... In World War 1, 2% of all causalities of the soldiers were attempted mutiny,” Bandit simply told him. “... And Osper was on the losing side.”

... The heavy silence was all Bandit needed to hear for her to know that Colmary understood the statement.

“... I went too far, huh?”

Though Bandit tried not to reply, her look of guilt was all he needed to see, so she followed it by a rather hesitant nod.

“... Shit.” He sat on the desk, swinging his legs. “I... God, I need to apologise. I didn’t think he’d take it that hard...”

“You...” Bandit bit the inside of her cheek. “Y-You did kinda insult the love of his life, who he lost to the Cult.”

“Y-Yeah, but...” He paused. “Nah, I’ve got nothing. That was inexcusable.”

They stayed quiet for a brief moment then, looking around for any more Clamor Furrure.

“... Can I ask you a question?” Colmary said aloud, not really directed at anyone.

“S-Sure...”

“... Who’s Blanche?”

**CHAPTER END**


	15. CHAPTER 14- The Fury of First Quarter

# CHAPTER 14- Fury of The First Quarter

Osper was pissed, and had every right to be.

It didn’t take much to anger him. It only took someone ranting and raving about what he’d lost for them to be losing a lot more. No matter how much he heard it, it never hurt less.

Sure, he was fighting for himself.

Sure, he didn’t care what happened to anyone else.

Sure, he was barely fighting his own war anymore...

But... He was doing it for someone else.

... Osper slowed down as Colmary’s words bounced around in his mind. He was fighting for Myla still, right? This wasn’t just some... act of vengeance. He was going to kill her killer, allow her to move on.

It... It was still right... right?

Osper looked up, just in time to dodge a hand that flew past his head. He counted by entering a combat stance, cracking his knuckles and wiping his mouth to show he wasn’t going down without a fight.

He looked up slowly, seeing that he probably didn’t have that chance. Standing tall above him was a large hazel spider, fluffy and puffed out like it’d been through the wash, hands on its legs which it used to grab the walls and at the floor. It had four bulbous black eyes and the little feelers that most large spiders did, but this one was super-sized to a massive degree, barely fitting in the maternity ward corridor.

Osper didn’t back down. He held his position, ready to throw down.

And then...

“Osper?”

He looked up a little further, seeing someone snuggled into the warmth of the arachnid. He flinched upright, seeing that it was Enid. “What on Earth...?”

“Hey, Osper!” She waved, adjusting her sitting position so it looked like she was riding a horse. “Meet Aranea. She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”

“Aranea?” Osper’s fists dropped. “Enid, what the hell are you doing?! Why are you working with these things?”

Enid rubbed Aranea’s head, who responded with a chirp and a purr. “Well, for starters, they aren’t the enemy. For seconds, I met this really cool dude down in the tunnels that the Clamor Furrure apparently make? And he taught me how to ride Aranea.”

“Uh... huh.” Osper was as confused as he could possibly be. “Enid, can you come down? Are you trapped?”

“Oh, no, I’m not!” Enid did as she was told, hopping down from the giant spider. As she hit the floor with a powerful landing, Osper noticed something.

Mainly, that she was standing.

“Enid!” He yelled, spooking Aranea slightly. “Your leg!”

She flicked it about, showing she had full control. “Like it? Rex gave it to me! It was about time for me to get back onto my feet, huh?”

Enid was over the moon, it seemed, while Osper just stared in disbelief.

“Well...” He regained composure quickly. “I suggest you and I go walk back. Bandit’s been worried sick about you.”

“Bandit...” Enid cooled off on that regard. “Y-Yeah, of course! Where are they?”

“Right here.”

Colmary and Bandit were stood behind Osper, one happier than the other as she surged forwards and tackled Enid into a hug. Osper sighed, looking at Colmary with a sour expression.

“... Hey.” Colmary averted his gaze. “Um... I’m sorry. About earlier.”

Osper gave him a moment, turning around to see Bandit and Enid.

“I WAS SO WORRIED!” Bandit cried into Enid’s shoulder.

“I know, I know... I’m sorry, I really am.” Enid ran her hand through Bandit’s hair. “I didn’t know what was going to happen. But I’m here now, okay?”

Bandit just continued crying into Enid’s shoulder, so Enid continued comforting Bandit. Osper huffed, walking in the opposite direction past Colmary.

But he stopped by him, seeing he was looking down guiltily, before putting a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry too.”

And with that, Osper headed out the door.

**...**

It took a long, long time to regroup and get everything explained to each other.

The group met Rex. Enid and Rex met Colmary, with the former confused by the re-introduction but accepting either way. Rex explained the past behind the Clamor Furrure, which caused him and Osper to butt heads over where they’d been, but by the end of it everyone got the gist of what was going on.

Much as Enid expected, they all had the same goal- to enter the Cult of Tekcas at the heart and rip it out.

Slowly but surely, one by one, all of the Clamor Furrure began pulling themselves out of Cullmary Hospital. Rex rattled them off by name and appearance- Archie was the green tiger, Magnum was the large one that had swallowed Enid, Lectulo was a moving bed and Unguibus was a really malformed looking eagle.

Aranea was the large spider, Terebro had a drill in his chest and walked on his massive hands, Longus was a blue crocodile looking fellow, Peritibis was a floating jellyfish with furry limbs that the trio had fought beforehand, the Torque Quinque were a bunch of orbs with large tails and kicking feet that had stuck to Colmary, and Cochlea- one the group hadn’t met- was literally just a large snail with hands whose shell could open to hold objects smaller than a basketball.

Enid looked around at them all. “W-Wait! Where’s Gremlin?”

Rex laughed suddenly, and opened his robes to reveal that Gremlin was settled in a pocket stitched inside of it. “Thought you might ask...”

Gremlin let loose a mighty yell, struggling out of the pocket to run over to Enid. She picked him up and hugged him like a plush toy, amused when he actually made a squeaking sound.

Rex smiled. “As I said... Enid here has a loyal connection to the Clamor Furrure. It was why I was so quick to trust her.”

Enid bit her lip.

Trust. It was... being thrown around a lot more than she wanted it to be. It was her own fault- she’d trusted so many people to treat her like a decent human being, when she should’ve realised that that was a stupid idea.

That man in the alley... Divan... Blair...

But right now... She was surrounded by friends. No, not friends- family. She couldn’t remember her real family anymore, but she was lucky enough to find her own in the city of nightmares.

Tekcas would not break her. Not anymore.

“Sooo...” Colmary wrapped his chain firmly around his arms. “What now?”

“Well, this is nowhere near enough manpower,” Osper explained. “A couple of fur bags aren’t going to cut it, regardless if we take them by surprise or not.”

Bandit rubbed her hands over each other. “W-Well, who’s going to want to... help us?”

“You kidding me?” Rex piped in. “We’re in First Quarter. Everyone and their mother wants the cult dead here...”

“But won’t get off their asses to do anything.” Osper sniffed, rubbing his nose. “Until today.”

“You...” Osper began walking away, much to Bandit’s confusion. “Hey! Where are you going?!”

“I’m going to go make a call.”

The group watched as Osper walked off, clearly planning something that they refused to tell the rest of the party. Osper was very much like that all the time.

Enid decided that they were going to follow. Not out of free will but out of curiosity- she knew Osper would never hurt her on purpose.

Osper walked a good mile before stopping at what appeared to be a bar. He kicked the door in, causing everyone inside to look at him like he was crazy, to which he added to that by climbing onto the bar and clearing his throat.

“Alright, listen up.” Osper clapped his hands. “You’ve got two choices- drink your life away here, or come with me and I’ll show you how we’ll defeat the cult.”

The bar murmured. They weren’t entirely convinced.

Osper didn’t care. He hopped down from the bar and walked right back out, not even glancing to see if anyone was following. Enid barely caught up when Osper was already walking the opposite direction.

She looked at the bar’s entrance...

And a swarm of people followed Osper out. She barely got to Osper’s side before she was lost in the crowd that consumed them, all walking in the same direction like a small battalion of soldiers.

Enid had never been to war. She’d never even considered it. Sure, she wore the camo t-shirt, but she never saw herself doing it. But right there, in that crowd, she found herself marching- left foot, right foot. Left foot, right foot...

And then, they were standing outside of Cullmary Hospital once more. Enid followed Osper out of the crowd, standing at the entrance with Rex, Bandit and Colmary as Osper took the front lines.

“Alright, listen up!” Osper repeated. “Look around you, one and all! Look around at the people who have grouped today!”

Some murmuring, following by heads swivelling.

“What do you see?!” Osper’s confidence was palpable. “Commoners! People who were simply going around their lives before the Cult invaded their way of living!”

Enid listened intensely as Gremlin cuddled up next to her leg.

“When the Cult came, you all revolted!” Osper pointed wildly. “Where Second Quarter ignored and Third Quarter Submitted, you were the ones to fight back against the way of living they were trying to force upon you! The Cult retreated back into their hovel, and you tried to continue living!”

Enid had never heard this side of the story. She had nothing to record it with, but she was going to try and remember as much as she could.

“When you look around, you’ll see hard-working citizens!” Osper’s voice was getting slightly rougher, as if he wasn’t expecting to talk this long. “But I see a group screwed out of the way they should exist by a God that you don’t even know is real!”

A few mutters of agreement. Enid’s eyes widened with joy.

“The Cult is a plague!” That earnt a cheer. “They’re trying to infect us with their parasitic ways! Trying to take away exactly what made Tekcas City the way it should’ve been!”

The crowd was getting amped now.

“We shall not fear this Cult any longer!” Osper stamped. “For those who can’t be here to see it fall! For those who have fallen to the Cult’s tyranny, and for those who’ve escaped it not quite the same!”

Colmary nodded, a smirk appearing on his face.

“For those whose entire lives were affected because the Cult ruined their way of existence!”

Rex stroked down Archie’s back.

“For those who want to build a new life with the ones they love!”

Enid gripped Bandit’s hand, squeezing.

“And for the ones who’ve lost someone who they’ll never be able to replace!” Osper wiped his mouth of the spittle he’d created yelling. “We are the ones who should run this town, not some God-Bashing idiots with cloaks and knives!”

The crowd yelled in agreement, putting their hands up.

“For the City we own!” Osper put his fist to the sky to show them he was all in, too. “For the City you can never leave, not because you physically can’t but because it is legendary in stature!”

Another swift yell of agreement, this time joined in by Enid.

_“Brûlez le culte au sol!”_ Osper let loose passionately. “For the glory of Tekcas!”

“FOR THE GLORY OF TEKCAS!”

All of the residents screamed out in unison. Osper turned to Colmary, some sort of angry acceptance in his eye. Colmary looked back with a weirdly thankful expression, unfurling his whip chain and kicking open the doors to Cullmary Hospital.

“I know the way into the Cult Quarters!” Colmary yelled over his shoulder. “Follow me if you have the heart to destroy them!”

The group yelled out again. Enid stepped aside, letting the group of 30 or so people storm into the building, all ready to take back the city that they should own.

It wasn’t just the humans, though- it was the Clamor Furrure who seemed inspired by the speech as they all began yelling and hollering in their different tunes. Rex hopped up onto the back of Aranea, pointing with a yell of his own as the multi-coloured fur scampered into the walls of the hospital to take their own routes to the Cult Quarters.

Osper, Enid and Bandit stayed at the entrance, watching as the group disappeared further into the hospital. Eventually, Osper followed, leaving just the couple behind.

Bandit was already blushing. “E-Enid... I--”

“I know.” Enid stopped her. “... I know.”

And with that... the pair shared the kiss they’d been waiting to share. It had already been interrupted once before- they weren’t going to let it float away this time.

“... I love you, Enid.” Bandit told her passionately.

“I love you too, Bandit.” Enid took her by the hands. “That’s why... That’s why I can’t make you come with us.”

Bandit blinked. “W-What? But... But I--”

“I know you can help,” Enid stopped her again. “And I know you want to, too. But I can’t risk losing you down there.”

“Then what about you?” Bandit replied. “I... I don’t want to lose you, either.”

“But that’s the difference between me and you, Bandit...” Enid huffed, stroking over Bandit’s hair. “I have to do this. I’ve worked too hard to not be there at the end. I know things that the others don’t.”

Bandit huffed, a little watery-eyed. “... T-Tell me you’re coming back.”

“Of course I’m coming back,” Enid replied swiftly. “And I’m going to be coming back for you, and we’re going to leave and be happy together, okay?”

Enid slowly began removing the bandage from around Bandit’s face, letting her see the small scars on her face. Bandit instinctively closed the eye that had been bandaged over, knowing that there was nothing underneath for bandit to see.

“I love you,” Enid told her again. “And I promise, I’ll be back to tell you that again.”

With that, they shared another kiss, and Enid walked into the building behind everyone else. Bandit stood there, fidgeting gently from the want to follow, but eventually took a deep breath and sat down.

The bandage removed fluttered in the breeze, getting carried away on a cold breath of wind. It flew up and onto the roof of the hospital...

Where it was caught by Divan.

... Divan looked down on the area where the group had been rallied against his Cult. In a way, he knew this would happen. He’d been telling them enough times that Enid was going to be a problem if she wasn’t dealt with.

And here they were. Pathwalker was obsessed with her for some reason; he wouldn’t let them kill her until it was too late.

Divan sighed. “Mirage.”

Mirage, his massive Raven friend, cawed right into his ear, letting him know that he already knew what his task was. He swooped off his shoulder, down into the vents behind them, to which Divan looked back and saw he was being watched.

The glass eyes of The Mascot stared into his soul.

“... Time to pick a side.” Divan wasn’t scared of The Mascot. There wasn’t much he was scared of at all. “Are you one of us, or one of them?”

The Mascot’s balloon simply read ‘suffering’, much like it always did. He stared silently, unmoving, letting Divan guess his choice.

Divan, however, shook his head. “Creepy thing...”

Divan hopped off the building’s side. From The Mascot’s angle, it would’ve looked like Divan just jumped to his death, a single crow flying off into the distance signalling it, but Divan had become that crow to fly away.

The Mascot’s unthinking gaze followed that bird all the way until it dipped behind the buildings. If Divan had stayed just a little bit longer...

He would’ve seen The Mascot’s eyes were dripping black ooze.

Black ooze that dripped to the floor to spell 'FRIGHTEN THEM'.

**CHAPTER END**


	16. CHAPTER 15- Fear

# CHAPTER 15- FEAR

Walking into the hospital, Enid found that the residents were already getting busy. The place looked worse than usual- they’d damaged the place beyond what it had been before. Even now she could hear them ripping the place to shreds up ahead.

Osper, luckily, had waited behind her, though by his look of confusion he hadn’t heard the conversation. “Bandit’s not coming?”

“My decision,” Enid said, walking with him. “Not going to let her die.”

“Fair.” Osper tutted as he watched a few residents take their anger out on the nearby bench. “Make sure that feeling expands to yourself, too.”

“Hypocrite,” Enid said under her breath.

Osper and Enid met up with Colmary, who was busy unleashing havoc with the others. He hopped down from the counter, leaning on it. “So, you guys ready?”

“Ready as we’ll ever be...” Osper crossed his arms. “Where is it?”

Colmary pointed and clicked. “Follow me!”

Colmary led them through the hospital, gathering the crowd with them as they went. They eventually arrived in the medical storage, back at the door that they’d seen the mysterious figure down in.

Colmary opened the door, revealing there was no one there now. Rex huffed, having arrived a few seconds earlier.

“Here we are...” Colmary patted the door. “If you guys have any regrets or tribulations, go ahead and walk away now.”

The crowd seemed more than ready. Rex steeled his gaze while Enid quashed her nerves.

One step forward... and the group were moving.

Down the staircase the group went. It seemed to stretch on forever, much further than it looked like it would at the top. Enid had to ignore how dark it seemed as muttering and small hints of doubt rolled through them all. Luckily, just before she snapped and began listening, the door finally appeared, a small light shining on it to show it was there.

Enid tested it. Locked, obviously. Osper didn’t mind- he had the key, and by the key he just proceeded to kick the door open with a powerful slam.

Immediately, four guards in Cultist clothing turned to them, the room they’d been protecting being the way in that Colmary had promised. Of course, before they could even draw their weapons, the swamping power of thirty men and women scorned descended upon them, beating them to a bloody pulp and, by degree, further.

Enid’s first instinct was to scan the walls. Cultic runes covered every surface of it, carved into the walls by sharp items. One of those sharp items scattered along the floor, hitting the area by Enid’s foot. She immediately picked it up, looking it over to see it was a Kris Knife- the kind used in rituals.

She could guess why a Cultist would have it.

“Hey, Osper.” She turned to where he was standing. “What do you think--”

... The key word was... well, was. Suddenly, she was acutely aware she was alone, everyone having vanished from sight.

“... Guys?”

Enid looked around, wondering what was going on. Though the room was completely the same, nobody who was once in the room was still there. She was completely alone.

Well, not completely alone. There was a TV in the room with her- a TV that seemed to be tuned to static.

Enid sniffed, walking over and tuning the TV. The dial was warm under her touch, not to mention slightly squishy, but she dealt with it as she found the channel she was probably supposed to find.

“-Other news, the body of 19-year-old Enid Ross, who went missing 3 weeks ago, has been discovered inside the basement of Orwell College.” The news announcer’s voice was gruff, with a sort of dark edge to it, like he was speaking in two different tones at once. “The cause of death is unknown, but police are ruling out the possibility of natural causes.”

Enid watched, her brow furrowing. What was this?

“Her mother claims that she had no idea why Enid has been missing for so long, but has explained that Enid has been distant since beginning college,” The news broadcaster continued. “Due to the lack of injuries on Enid’s body, it is unknown how she died- however, since the room she was locked in had been locked, police suspect foul play. More news at--”

The program cut to static. Enid tutted, patting the top of the box and kneeling to look at the screen better.

Mother? Did Enid have a mother? It sounded familiar, but she... couldn’t remember who she was.

She tuned the dial some more, despite it not doing anything, but looking into the static she realised it was definitely causing something to happen.

... It was making a face appear in the static.

Enid didn’t realise who the face belonged to until it was too late, and she was staring into the bulbous eyes of The Mascot.

Enid fell backwards as the static burst forwards, hitting her with the horrible hissing sound. For a while, that’s all she could hear- she went completely deaf, the loud hiss of black and white forcing her to cover her ears, to no avail. She clenched her eyes closed, rubbing the sides of her head, forcing the sound down to a simple dull hum.

When she opened her eyes, then, she found herself somewhere that she recognised. It was... an open field, dried grass tickling her body as it blew in the wind. Instantly, she froze, knowing that this place wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. She was just underground- she couldn’t be outside now.

And she was thirsty. Again... thirstier than she’d ever felt before. Like her mouth was producing sand instead of saliva.

She’d felt this before. She’d BEEN, here before.

She wasn’t outside Tekcas City. She was simply in a new part of it.

Enid screamed. She screamed louder than she’d ever screamed before. Every time she thought she’d seen enough, another dose of shock was applied like an admixture to her skin. Her whole body shook as she sobbed into the night, wanting nothing more than to break away from the chaos.

When she pounded her hands on the dirt, however, the dull pain of stone echoed back. Once again, she remembered exactly what had happened last time- the world around her was fake. She shook her head, beginning to slowly get to her feet.

And with a small, tough regard... she also remembered how she escaped last time, too.

“... This place... is...”

Enid bit her lip. This wasn’t exactly against Osper’s rules, right? Did they even apply anymore? If she didn’t do it, she’d...

“... Impossible.”

Enid closed her eyes. A cold, ominous wind blew past her, not moving her hair or clothes in any way. Enid followed the air behind her, seeing that what she’d called for was sitting peacefully on the floor behind her.

A Coffin. Just like last time.

She walked over, taking a knee as she unlatched the coffin’s locks. Pulling open the Coffin, she saw exactly what she expected to see- the things she’d need to escape from the nightmare she suffered.

A single bottle of water and a sharpened cross that was all too familiar.

“ _Mortem tuam_ , motherfucker.”

Enid smiled widely as she picked up the weapon, and then the bottle, uncapping it and throwing it at the ground. Where the water hit, the illusion faded, revealing the stone below it. She stamped hard on the bottle, spraying up and over the walls in the room too, and then took the sharpened cross and carved a massive X into the wall.

The X began to bleed. That blood began to flood outwards, covering the room’s floor in the crimson liquid which dripped upwards onto the ceiling. Enid didn’t care if she was getting drenched, or the horrific copper smell was assaulting her nostrils- the room was growing darker with red rain, and she was returning back to where she’d been before.

... At least, that’s what she thought.

Suddenly, all of the blood fell at once, and Enid had to block her gaze to stop it from getting in her eyes. When she uncovered them, she found not the room she’d started in but a completely red plain of existence, a swirling red mess like watercolour paints on crimson oil.

In front of her was...

“... B-Bandit?” Enid shakily held the weapon in her hand. “I... I told you to--”

Enid flinched when she realised that she wasn’t speaking to Bandit. She couldn’t be. This was another illusion, especially considering that ‘Bandit’ wasn’t moving at all.

The Mascot was trying too hard to scare her now. Enid was aware of his tricks.

Even so... it was rather hard to watch Bandit’s neck snap ninety degrees, the crack echoing the entire plain like it was a cicada’s vibration.

“... Y O U W I L L K I L L U S A L L.”

Enid bit the inside of her cheek hard, tasting the copper in her mouth. “As long as I take you with me.”

Enid blinked involuntarily, and she was back in the room she started in. She took a nice deep sigh, dropping to her knees and gasping for breath. Little by little, she was fighting back against The Mascot.

Enid looked up, seeing the oversized shoes of The Mascot standing in front of her. She had to force a smile, but looking up at him to see him standing motionless was no longer terrifying to her.

“... What else have you got?” She taunted. “Come on... I’m ready.”

The Mascot just continued to look down at her, the balloon he was holding reading the word ‘DEATH’. From this angle, Enid could see the original message, the rest of the words having been scribbled out in a dark marker.

‘WE DON’T FIND DEATH- WE FIND PEACE WHEN WE FIGHT.’

Enid’s eyes narrowed. “What are you trying to accomplish?”

Enid stood up, keeping on her feet in case The Mascot suddenly changed his entire way of thinking and tried to attack her. He wasn’t trying to harm her in any way- he was just standing there, almost like he didn’t want to fight.

Almost like he was resisting the urge to.

“If you’re going to do something, do it,” Enid spat at him. “I’m not scared of you anymore.”

The Mascot stayed statue still, the big goofy grin now becoming grating rather than fearful. He wasn’t scary. All it took was Enid basically being tortured for three weeks for her to realise that.

She wasn’t afraid of The Mascot.

She was afraid of mascots, that much she knew. But not of him.

“... That’s why you’re not attacking me,” she smirked. “Because you know I’m not afraid. You know there’s nothing you can throw at me anymore.”

... Again, complete stillness. Enid huffed, looking away for a split second before turning back.

And he was gone.

She chuckled. “Coward.”

She took a single step forward, ready to try and find her own way out, when she realised that there was a presence behind her. She turned, ready to strike at The Mascot with her weapon, only to find that for the first time he was frowning.

It was like his frown was completely inverted. It completely toyed with her- all at once, this villainous ire that she thought he contained was erased as the face of The Mascot now looked depressed.

“What’s wrong?” Enid mocked him, outstretching her arms. “Can’t think of a way to scare me anymore?”

Again, the silence was deafening as the balloon now read a familiar word of ‘SUFFERING’. Enid laughed slightly, the laughter dying quickly as she suddenly felt a small twinge of doubt inside her.

“W-Why... aren’t you attacking me?” She asked him. “Is it because you don’t want to? Is that it?”

Like every time before, the complete statue stance remained.

“... It’s...” Enid clicked. “... It’s because you can’t, isn’t it?”

Almost like those words triggered a robotic response, The Mascot began shaking. The area around them began shaking too, and as one of the glass eyes of The Mascot popped Enid toppled backwards from the shaking.

Right onto the cold, hard white tiles of a hospital room.

Enid rubbed her eyes, hearing the familiar whirring of an Iron Lung, and the beeping of a machine that registered heartbeats. She stood up, unfamiliar with the setting but familiar with the scenario.

Standing in total darkness was the silhouette of a man. He stood over the elderly patient in the bed as the clock ticked and the machine worked away slowly.

“... That you, son?” The elderly man looked up, a smile trickling. “Hey, there... how are you doing?”

Where the words of the man would’ve spoken, a horrific whispering took over, blocking out any chance of Enid hearing it. She tried to walk towards the pair, but an invisible wall blocked her path, forcing her to be a bystander to the event.

What she did see from that angle was something that really caught her off guard. On the table was The Mascot’s head- not as she was used to seeing it, however. The eyes weren’t bulging and out of the sockets, nor was the smile too wide to feel natural- in face, it just felt like a more cartoonish version of a human head, an appealing smile and big anime-style eyes, pristine of any blood and mucus that once covered it.

Enid could actually feel herself drawn in, the smile making her want to as well.

The conversation continued in the background. “Kid... I want you to have something.”

The elderly man pointed. “It’s over there... next to your head.”

The other man walked towards the table, pushing the head a little to the side to reveal what appeared to be a medal of some kind.

“For you, kid...” The elderly man continued. “I want you to... wear it with pride. Now that I can’t.”

Again, more whispering.

“No, I insist.” The elderly man was barely holding back a parade of coughs, it seemed. “You deserve it. For taking care of me... and my family, for so long...”

Whispering again. Enid really wished she could hear what he was saying.

“Please...” The elderly man kept going. “When I die... when I’m gone... tell me you won’t... hurt another person, ever again.”

... The whispering took a second, but it replied. The Elderly Man smiled, the answer obviously positive.

A flash of white light. Now Enid was standing in front of The Mascot, but once again not in the way she was used to seeing him- he was clean and fresh, the hair unmessy and the mask the way it was on the table in the last scene. The medal that was gifted to him was being worn proudly on his clothing, just like was asked of him, and though the rest of the suit looked comical the presence he made was invitingly firm. Enid heard footsteps behind her, and she spun to see a bald child run in.

The child ran over excitedly, right through Enid who didn’t even attempt to move. Where the child would’ve said the name of The Mascot was intense static. “Can I have a balloon?”

He couldn’t be more than eight years old, but the hospital clothing told Enid the entire story. The boy was sick, potentially fatally, which meant they were probably still in the same hospital that the Elderly Man had been in.

The chaotic whispers didn’t fit this friendly looking version of The Mascot as he did exaggerated movements, kneeling down and opening his arms, which the kid threw himself into for a big hug. Enid also felt the arms wrap around her, too, like she was being wrapped in a thick blanket.

It was the most genuine hug she’d felt in a long, long time, and it came from a complete and total stranger who wasn’t even trying to hug her.

After the hug, The Mascot began blowing up a balloon with a small device that he had to use. The balloon was tied and given to the child on a string as it floated upwards into the air, making the child very, very happy.

“You’re the best!” The Child giggled as he pulled his balloon about. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

The balloon read a familiar phrase.

‘FIGHT THROUGH THE SUFFERING’.

More whispering as The Mascot made an ‘Oh, you’ pose. When the kid left, The Mascot clasped his hands, the whispering becoming humming as he began cleaning up the room he was in.

In the split second that Enid got to get a good look at him, she noticed a name tag on his uniform too; the big bold letters told her exactly what she had wanted to know for a long, long time.

His name.

Then, another flash, this time of black. It seemed to be after hours, and The Mascot was stocking shelves in a room that felt so much colder than Enid was expecting. She rubbed her arms as she watched The Mascot stock medicine through the night.

He was interrupted suddenly when someone rounded the shelves, shaking and scratching with a gun in their hands.

“Alright, asshole,” The man spoke. “Put them up.”

The Mascot looked over, pausing for a moment. Whispering, followed by him taking a step forward.

“DON’T. MOVE.” The man held him at gunpoint. “How do you know my name?”

... Slowly, The Mascot took off his mask. Enid was standing behind him, so she didn’t get to see his face, and though she tried to move to a place where she could her legs felt rooted to the floor.

“... Fuckin’ A.” The man’s gripped tightened. Again, any time he said the name of The Mascot, it caused static instead. “That you?”

More whispering. This phrase caused laughter from the other guy.

“Same idea as you, probably.” The man scratched his neck. “Got out, ran for Tekcas City. Police were so afraid of this place they never even came after me past the border.”

Enid grimaced. So they were still in Tekcas in this flashback, which probably made the area they were in Cullmary Hospital.

“Heard rumours about this place shutting down soon.” The man jeered. “S’why I came in. No guards, no doctors... just you.”

More whispering, this time cut off by a harsh spit.

“What on God’s name are you wearing?” The Man growled. “You look like a clown.”

Whispering. This time, it went on much longer, with a total of four expression changes on the other man- confusion, then anger, then laughter and finally, strictness.

“Put your mask on,” He commanded. “I don’t wanna see my right-hand man’s face in that God-awful suit.”

The Mascot relented, putting the mask on, followed by whispering.

“What’s it look like?” The Man referred to the shelf. “Come to get my fix.”

The whispering this time caused The Man to erupt.

“Oh, aren’t you full of it now?!” The Man cawed loudly. “You think you can just abandon us and work in a fucking hospital like your career’s back on track?!”

When The Mascot tried to whisper, he was shot in the shoulder. The blood from it floated upwards instead of dripping downwards, helping Enid remember it was only an illusion.

“Fuck you, dude!” Another shot hit his chest, and The Mascot flew backwards. “FUCK YOU!”

The Mascot lay motionless on the ground, but groaned as he began trying to get up. As The Man pulled all of the medicine into the rucksack he brought, The Mascot grabbed onto his leg, trying to stop him, which earnt another shot to the hand.

As The Mascot lay there, groaning in pain, the whispers began to recede, revealing another man’s voice. It wasn’t entirely obvious what he was saying because it was so quiet, but Enid figured it must’ve been his.

The Man began to leave, but stopped at the door. Enid’s legs finally unfroze, and despite knowing he wasn’t really there Enid’s first instinct was to fly to The Mascot and put her hands through him, trying to stop the bleeding.

“You remember what you told me?” The Man yelled as he was halfway out the exit. “You remember what you said? About how you were glad you’d be dead long before you knew what the inside of an urn looked like?!”

The Mascot reached out shakily and The Man cranked the thermostat as high as it could go.

“Well now you get to know!” The Man laughed. “It’s gonna BURN!”

The door slammed shut as The Mascot tried to get to his feet. Immediately, the cold of the room was swapped out with a sweltering heat as The Mascot’s desperation grew louder and louder. He was too weak- there was no way for him to walk over and just turn it down, considering he could barely pull himself above the bottom shelf of the medicine cabinets.

So instead, The Mascot began crying. Deep, guttural crying, like a man scorned to die- because, technically, that’s what this was. He was being executed by a former ally.

It was only when the crying became screaming that Enid saw what exactly was happening to The Mascot. His mask was beginning to melt, and try as he might The Mascot couldn’t pull it off his head. The eyes of the suit began to fall slightly outwards and bulge in a familiar way as the blood became more intense, mixing with the wax of the mask, and the smile grew malformed and revealed that the teeth were just made of the same material the inside of the mask was, just carved to look different.

He screamed and begged to God for it to stop, making Enid have to cover her ears as the tone became deafening. The walls of the room began to close in on them both, a fleshy texture to them as they pulsed like a heartbeat, and Enid couldn’t stop it as it wrapped around her limbs and began squeezing like it was vacuum sealing her inside it.

It went taut, removing her ability to breath or every move at all. She was trapped, suffocating, the vein-filled skin locking her in place.

... And then all at once it stopped. Enid gasped for air as she ripped her way out of the flesh cocoon, finding herself in a completely new scene. Now she was in a cage, this time literally rather than metaphorically. The skin cocoon eroded away as she panted for breath, looking down to see the bottom of this cage was made of pure glass.

And below her, an incinerator bellowed with flames and molten material. The heat of it made it feel all too real.

Then, she looked up, down a long corridor that twisted and turned, decorated in the same style as a children’s room. Standing at the very end was a blackened figure, one that Enid could recognise instantly from the shape of the melted, bulbous head.

“... No.” Enid stood up. “No, this is wrong... why show me that?! Why show me that and then kill me straight after?! What do you gain from this?!”

The Mascot didn’t move as the lights behind him at the end of the hallway flickered. When they turned off, and then back on again, he had vanished, re-appearing at the next light which was about half-way closer.

“You don’t have to do this!” Enid slammed her hands onto the bars and gripped them tightly. “I... I get it! I don’t know exactly what you’ve gone through, but I know that you’ve suffered now! Please, you don’t have to...”

The lights flicked off again. Then back on, and he’d moved on to the next light, about a quarter a ways away.

Enid looked down again. There was no escape- the bars were too thin for her to slip through, and too thick to try and break. The only other thing that Enid could see that could be somewhat useful was a lever on the other side of the bars.

A lever that The Mascot was now standing in front of. It took a second for Enid to see that lever was connected to the top of the cage.

“... N-No.” She looked at him. “Not like this.”

The Mascot’s hand began to reach for the lever. With nothing left to do, Enid realised that there was one last thing she could try.

The Nametag that The Mascot had worn was covered in a thick, black goop.

But luckily for Enid... she’d seen what it was beforehand.

Just as the hand touched the lever... Enid yelled.

“ASTON, STOP!”

... To Enid’s amazement, the hand stopped. She took a deep breath, and began thinking hard about what she would have to say.

“... Aston, right?” She held the bars. “That’s who you were. Who you _are.._. Aston Marshall. A mascot at Cullmary Hospital, specifically the Children’s Ward. Those visions I saw... they were clues. Clues to the things that have happened to you...”

The stillness of The Mascot this time felt different. It was less like he was trying to be intimidating, more like he was frozen in time.

“... Aston, listen to me.” Enid leant on the bars, pushing her forehead in between them to look him in the eyes. “This whole time, I... I was afraid of you. Afraid of what you were capable of. But now I see the truth.”

The Mascot stared, completely still.

“That promise you made to that man...” Enid scanned his uniform for the medal, seeing it was gone. “Don’t you remember him? Don’t you remember what you promised? You promise never to hurt another person again.”

... The Mascot’s hand slowly began to lower.

“But I know now... why you... why you’re doing this.” Enid swallowed hard. “You’re doing this because... It’s you that’s afraid, right? You’re scared.”

The Mascot looked on, the balloon he held not reading anything at all.

“I heard the man that killed you.” Enid head butted the bars slightly. “He said you didn’t want to burn alive. You didn’t want to feel what it was like to be trapped inside of an urn... you were going to be cremated, huh?”

Silence. Enid didn’t know why she bothered.

“But when he forced you to feel what you feared, you lost your way. Because all this time, you’ve been feeling that... horrifying fear of claustrophobia and searing heat that’s never dulled, so you began inflicting fear on others.”

Suddenly, the balloon burst, dropping to his side.

“... N-No! Not you...” Enid finally realised it. “It’s the suit. You’re not The Mascot- The Mascot is what you’re wearing! You are Aston, the man who promised that man never to hurt another person again!”

The Mascot shivered as if her speech was becoming more than just words.

“And this entire time... The Mascot has been in control... The Mascot, who never feared anything, was inflicting fear to people that you promised never to hurt.” Enid’s voice was growing louder. “They say... they say you die twice- once when your heart stops beating, and another when your name is uttered for the last time... well Aston, today I breathe life back into you for the last time!”

The Mascot’s body shifted finally, almost like the words had broken the chains that held him down.

“... Aston. All this time, you’ve been afraid of being trapped away inside The Mascot.” Enid’s tone went motherly, almost on accident. “You’ve been just of afraid of The Mascot as we have, but for you... it was so much worse.”

Enid extended her hand through the bars, the only thing she could fit.

“Aston... you’re Claustrophobic. You fear burning alive. But most importantly... you fear not being able to fulfil that promise.” Enid tried wiggling her fingers at him. “Aston... you don’t need to be afraid anymore. Take off your mask... see what he’s been forcing you to fear.”

For a small second, The Mascot remained emotionlessly still.

... But then the hand extended upwards, the dirty plushness pushing onto Enid’s palm, depositing something into her hand. Enid didn’t bother looking at what it was as the hand continued up to his own head.

And began to pull. Dirty, black blood began to spray everywhere, chunks of infection and burned skin tumbling out from underneath. The eyes popped, the teeth shattered, and even when one the arms of The Mascot went limp, he kept pulling by the hair, tearing it out in clumps until getting a good hand in.

When the head detached from the neck, and The Mascot’s head tumbled to the ground, the lights flickered and exploded, leaving Enid in the darkness, with only a single, solitary, demonic scream...

A scream that sounded almost like a thank you.

... When Enid came too, she found herself in the room where the four cultists were still being beaten up. It was almost like she had just spaced out for five seconds, even though it felt like more than an hour had past.

Osper looked over to her. “You okay?”

“Yeah, sorry, just...” Enid couldn’t think of an excuse.

“Sadly, this is what’s going to happen.” Osper shrugged. “You can look away if you want, but they’re taking out frustration of the losses they’ve felt for so long.”

Enid flexed her hands. In response, however, she dropped what she was holding- that being a sharpened cross and a blackened medal.

Luckily for her, nobody noticed, and she was able to pick up both items, patting Osper’s shoulder and showing him the weapon.

“... What? Where did you...?”

“Found it in the wall,” Enid lied. “What’s that thing you say? Mortem something?”

Osper blinked. He took the weapon from Enid, looking it in his hand, which gave Enid enough time to read what was on the medal.

And to her surprise...

It was nothing at all.

**END CHAPTER**


	17. CHAPTER 16- The Tyrant and The Harpie

# CHAPTER 16- The Tyrant and the Harpie

Osper marched along, slitting two throats as he went. What he was doing was arming the others- every cultist had a knife on them, making it easy to equip them with weapons that the cultists were familiar with. Enid looked back to make sure that everyone was still following.

When they made it to a crossroads, he pointed at all three in turn. “Alright, groups of 12! Colmary there, Rex here, I’ll take this one! Enid, you choose someone to follow.”

Enid looked at him like he was crazy. “Oh, come on, Osper! Don’t I deserve to lead a team?”

“Shut your mouth!” Osper hadn’t stopped yelling since the beginning of the raid. “You lot! We’re after a place called the Heart Chamber! It’ll be located in the Grand Chamber somewhere in the cult. Find it and destroy it- don’t wait for us.”

Rex sighed. “Osper... I’m going alone. I have a feeling I’m not going to be necessary here.”

“What do you--”

“Just pay attention.” Rex smiles softly. “Enid, you’ll be coming with me.”

Enid nodded, joining his side as the other teams walked off on their separate routes. Lots of yelling and blood spilling echoed from Osper’s direction, and Enid could only think about the lives that were being lost.

“Come.” Rex patted Enid’s shoulder. “We’re going this way, no?”

Enid was sceptical. For the first time, this didn’t seem like a trap, and yet that’s not a suspicion that she should be used to. Even so she followed Rex towards the door at the end of the hall, which he pushed open with his staff that he had brought to assist him in walking.

Enid followed him into a circular room. He looked around, almost like he was familiar with it. “Hmm... Yes, I know where we are.”

“You do?” Enid asked him.

Enid heard the door slam behind her, followed by the loading of a crossbow as a cultist held her at arrow point. Her first instinct was to groan that she’d let herself be dragged into this again.

Her second was to put her hands up in surrender, forgetting she was still clutching the medal in her hand.

When Divan stepped out of the darkness alongside what seemed to be thirty other cultists, Enid knew immediately what was coming next.

“Mirage.” He stuck his hand out, where upon the bird in question shed his disguise as Rex and perched onto his arm. “Well, well... here we are again.”

Enid closed her eyes as a Cultist felt over her body, scanning her for weaponry.

“Did I not tell you back then that I wouldn’t hesitate to fight?” Divan flexed his arm inwards, stroking Mirage gently. “And after I’d been so kind to you.”

“Kind?” She couldn’t help but laugh as her eyes snapped open. “Kind?! You locked me in a cage for two weeks. You let my memories get erased. What do you mean ‘kind’?”

Divan looked up from Mirage. “Hm. So you figured that out.”

“And I guess Aston died for your causes, too?” She tossed the medal at his feet, which caused him to look down curiously. “What is it you actually do here, Divan?”

Divan motioned with his head, getting one of his cultists to pick it up for him. After confirming what the medal was, he did seem a little less confident to speak, as his next sentence began with a short pause.

“... The Mascot... was not our ally. He was more of a tool to... engage, the less than adamant.” He tutted. “Worked pretty well on the one who let you go.”

Enid growled. The one that let her go... the cultist in the bar. The cultist who gave her a head start, then never followed.

He did say he’d be caught.

But then again... remembering him made her think back slightly further.

“The Omni-generator,” She asked stupidly, “Where is it?”

“Why in God’s name would I tell you that?” Divan laughed. “After all, you’re looking for it, correct? Even if we’re about to kill you, I wouldn’t tell you it.”

Enid huffed. “Worth a shot I suppose.”

“You’ve certainly found yourself on two feet again,” Divan told her as he approached. “Literally, I might add. Who gave you your regenerative abilities? Have you been talking to The One Beyond?”

It clicked in Enid’s head that Divan probably didn’t know about bionics. Either that, or had forgotten they existed. Could she use that to her advantage...?

“Here’s how it’s going to work now, Enid.” Divan was now standing in front of her, his height about three inches above her 5’ 7’’ stance. “In a perfect world, you will now kneel, apologise for the trouble and we put a bolt in you.”

“Yeah, well this isn’t a perfect world,” She spat back, causing Mirage to caw at her. “You gonna force me down?”

With that, she made sure to put her real leg forward, as to give the idea that the bionic was her weaker leg. It certainly went noticed by Divan, whose eyes darted up and down from the movement.

“I don’t see myself as a High Guardian, you know.” Divan smirked again. “But, with all due respect... I deserve this.”

And with that, he swung his leg around, trying to take out her back leg; key word on try. What he did instead was create a dull thud and a ringing sound that emitted through the floor and into the walls, warbling the metallic room.

Divan shrunk back, kicking his leg about. “Son of a! God, you... you’ve got some real gall, you know that?!”

Enid shrugged. “Actually... I have more than gall.”

Divan’s anger was obvious, but his face began to change to confusion as a strange sound echoed down the corridor behind the closed door.

A sound like a shriek of a very angry chew toy.

“I have friends.”

The Cultist at the door didn’t even get a chance to lose an arrow as he was sent careening overhead, crashing in front of Divan and Enid. Enid ducked as the door went over her head too, revealing that Magnum had been the one to break through the door. He beat on his chest as the other Clamor Furrure scurried in behind him, looking like the weirdest superheroes of all time.

And in came Rex, stroking along the back of Archie as he went to the front of the crowd before picking up the crossbow and hurtling it down the corridor.

“Sorry about that...” Rex chuckled. “Got lost.”

Divan hurtled backwards as the Cultists all swarmed past Enid and towards the Clamor Furrure. To say the fight was one sided would be an understatement- it was more like the cult was flattened into paving as the Clamor Furrure proceeded to bury them underfoot.

Lectulo lay the first strike, ramming into the front one and charging through the crowd to the other wall. Magnum swung up and through a crowd, sending them all spiralling like ballerinas in the air, and one of them got caught by Terebro who drilled into him with his drill, spraying blood everywhere. Peritibis snagged a few in its tendrils, carrying them into the ceiling panels where they were swarmed by the Torque Quinque. Cochlea’s shell unfurled, grabbing a cultist around the head and smothering him by curling up again. Longus and Aranea worked together, with Aranea firing off sticky strands and yanking them over Longus’ body where he could snap their heads off. Unguibus swooped in, grabbing a cultist with its hands and lifting him high into the air, hurtling him to the ground.

It was a massacre, and Enid could only watch in awe and terror as the fluffy creatures she once thought were peaceful destroyed the small army. Even then, however, more doors opened, revealing more and more cultists who ran it to try their own might and were promptly taken care off.

Through all of this, Gremlin made its appearance known by screaming, and Enid picked him up for some cuddles. A Cultist actually got the smart idea to charge her with his knife raised, only to be pounced and mauled by Archie.

Rex also tapped his cane to remind Enid that she was still in the room. “Friend Enid! We must make our way to the Omni-Generator, no?”

“Yes, of course!” She walked over, still holding Gremlin. “Which way do you think it is?”

“I know which way it is!” He told her over the screaming. “I had Peritibis scan out the entire facility! It’s at the bottom of the Heart Chamber- if we break it, it’ll be easy as pie to make our way back to it!”

Just as the conversation finished, Rex twirled his cane up, blocking a strike from Divan who leapt out the shadows. Rex deflected the blade easily, using the small counter to clock Divan hard across the head. He didn’t fall, but he certainly staggered.

“I suggest you meet us there, Friend Enid!” Rex commanded. “I have a feeling Divan will be a nuisance!”

Enid nodded, preparing to run the opposite direction, but a loud THUD echoed the room as she collapsed backwards when something that wasn’t a body or a Clamor Furrure landed in front of her. She looked up, seeing a disgusting fanged smirk still painted on the face of The Nameless.

“Oh, dear God.”

Enid scrambled backwards as he began stalking forwards, ignoring the slaughter of the brethren around him. The Nameless didn’t need a weapon- his entire arm was one, still pulsing with heat like an active volcano.

That’s where the difference between The Nameless and Divan grew obvious. Divan was brandishing a katana with a pure black blade, which he was using to fight Rex who was defending him really well. The difference was that Divan was fighting to win; The Nameless wasn’t.

The Nameless was looking to kill.

The Nameless surged forward then, smashing his fist into the ground where Enid had just been. She’d rolled out of the way just in time, looking back to see The Nameless had put his fist through the ground and was now removing it from the rubble. His smile never faded as he looked at Enid again.

That’s when he began getting assaulted by Unguibus, who swooped in and began slapping The Nameless about with the hands it boasted as claws. It was actually rather effective in its task- with only one hand to bat at them, Unguibus was able to actually avoid him quite well. Of course, this avoidance didn’t last as Unguibus got too cocky and tried to pull back The Nameless’ hood, barely ripping it as it was then grabbed and hurled the opposite direction.

Unguibus kept in the air, regaining composure and preparing to swoop back in, but Divan caught what was going on and pointed at them. “Mirage!”

Mirage dive-bombed from the rafters, swirling down and countering Unguibus from the sidelines. Enid heard someone approaching from behind, instinctively swinging backwards with the item in her hands.

That, of course, being Gremlin, who essentially dealt as much damage as a pillow. The Cultist looked confused, which was just enough of a distraction for Enid to sweep the leg of the Cultist and wrestle the knife away from them. Before they could get up, they were constricted by Longus, who hissed like a crocodile into their face.

Enid looked back just in time to see The Nameless above her, swinging down with the blade. She dodged to the side, barely succeeding in that fact as the blade also swung backwards to try and clip her on the backburner, but she was just short enough that it only took the few strands of hair that had been sticking up in the mess of it. Enid looked back, watching as Gremlin screamed and bit into the leg of The Nameless, but he didn’t even look down as he marched forwards.

Enid ducked another slice, using the newly acquired knife to attack the lower body. Enid wasn’t trained in combat- she was just doing what she’d seen in the movies and things of that regard. The Nameless grabbed her by the hair, pulling her off the ground as he head butted her back down to it, bouncing her along the floor and causing a gush of blood to escape her forehead.

It was like getting struck with a brick. Enid even had to shake off stars as she got back to her feet, messily gripping at her knife.

She didn’t need to keep fighting, however. Out of nowhere, Longus curled up and around The Nameless, sinking its ‘teeth’ into his shoulder, which he didn’t try to counter. The hand curled around the body of Longus, but couldn’t pry him off as Cochlea caught it with the extended limb.

This gave Archie the chance to pounce onto The Nameless. They didn’t topple them with the first, or the second, or even the third massive slash to the face, so it cried into the air to call on Terebro the hurtle its way over and grab The Nameless by the shoulder, drilling him directly in the face.

This doggy pile didn’t do much. The Nameless started by cutting the arms off Terebro, stamping down on the drill to shatter it, which seemed to put Terebro out of commission. The Nameless grabbed the limb, swinging Cochlea around and out of the fray into Unguibus and Mirage, where all three landed as a crumpled heap.

Next, The Nameless wrapped his mitt around Longus again, pulling with a resounding ripping sound which pulled Longus in half, spraying stored guts all along the floor. He couldn’t get his hands on Gremlin or Archie, though, as he looked to his right as a massive shadow covered him.

For the slight second he was still in the way... his smiled faded.

Magnum proceeded to crush The Nameless under his body, completely consuming him under the bundle of fur. It was like dropping a mattress on a toddler. Gremlin made his way over from inside the pile, screaming at Enid to show that he was okay.

Enid then turned towards Divan, seeing that Rex had knocked his weapon out of his hand and away from the man in question. Divan was on the floor, being held down by the end of the staff.

Archie strolled over, ready to pounce, but Rex kept him still. “Well then... Any last words?”

Divan tried kicking out with his legs, but Aranea wrapped him up before he could do anything. “You can’t do this! We’re the only ones keeping this city alive!”

“That’s the point.” Rex smirked. Enid joined his side, looking down at them. “There’s a horrible stench of anger coming off of you. Better continue before anger turns to acceptance.”

“I will tear you limb from limb!” Divan yelled again. “You can’t do this!”

“Getting conflicting messages here...”

Enid shook slightly, trying to ignore the guilt coursing through her. “R-Rex... If you’re going to kill him, do it already.”

Rex scoffed. “You feeling pity, Enid?”

“Look, I...” Enid rubbed her arms. “I’m not going to pretend they don’t deserve to die. After all, I lost nearly a month to them. But I... I don’t feel like they’re entirely to blame for this.”

Enid found herself scanning the ground, where she grabbed the medal.

“I don’t know if Divan would be a bad guy if he didn’t have this happen to him.” She looked up at him, smiling gently, which caused his face to merge into a sorrowful look. “Divan, did you ask for this?”

“I... I...” Enid could see he was fighting with himself about what she was saying was the truth. “I d-did. I asked to be this way... D-Didn’t I?”

He began shaking as Rex pulled his staff away to make sure it wasn’t a trick.

“... H-He was sick.” He looked up at them again. “Mirage... My only friend. My only family. He was going to die, if I didn’t... didn’t make the deal.”

From out of Unguibus’ corpse, the raven in question untangled. Mirage seemed injured, probably from having the Clamor Furrure thrown through them. The bird hobbled up to Divan, cuddling into him as he sat there, breathing heavily from his fight with Rex.

“We came here seeking medical attention.” He grimaced. “I... I never wanted it to get this bad. I promise, I didn’t think I’d ever find myself leading the cult...”

Enid looked to Rex, confirming he was still listening, before looking back to see Divan tidying Mirage’s feathers.

“... Listen. I know the way to the Heart Chamber.” He looked down at his feet, which were both intact. “If you guys let me live, I’ll... I’ll take you there. No tricks, no traps... just... there.”

Rex gripped his staff tighter. “Give us a reason why we should trust you.”

Enid, though wanting to trust him, had already been tricked by him several times. No tricks, no traps- it sounded too good to be true.

And yet... Enid stepped forward, extending her hand. Rex gave her the deserving look like she was insane, but she shook her head and sighed.

“Divan... if you promise to me that you’ll make this right... I’ll forgive you.” Enid spoke like she was approaching an actual bird. “I don’t want to pretend that you’re a bad person. Misguided... but you’re a good man.”

Mirage cawed loudly, but Divan pinched the back of his neck gently to make sure he didn’t attack. “No, Mirage... I think it’s best to say we’ve lost.”

As Divan took Enid’s hand, showing her that he wasn’t going to do anything, he slowly began to get to his feet. He made sure Mirage was balanced correctly on his arm, too, adjusting him when he had a little bit of a wobbly moment.

Rex looked to Magnum then. He seemed a little disheartened after the death of some of the Clamor Furrure, but he kept himself proud at the ones who survived.

“Terebro, Unguibus, Cochlea, Longus...” He put his free hand on his chest. “Your sacrifices will not be forgotten.”

“There’s something I meant to ask...” Enid walked over to him. “What exactly... are, the Clamor Furrure to you? Children, followers...?”

Rex nodded, which didn’t answer the question, but she didn’t get a chance to as a fifth name got added to the list of dead fur bags.

Magnum, whose entire body exploded as The Nameless flew out of it with an intense roar.

Gremlin screamed, and all of the Clamor Furrure began throwing themselves forwards at The Nameless. Rex tried to stop them, but it was too late- within moments, all of them were on him like a swarm of multi-coloured fire ants.

It was Aranea who fell first as she attempted to grapple The Nameless by the mouth, only for a jet of fire to consume her and cook her ablaze. She fell onto her back, swinging her legs about in death, which gave The Nameless the opportunity to march forward. Peritibis wrapped long fluffy tendrils around his arms and legs, trying to lift him off the ground as the Torque Quinque pounced on and stuck to him, a fate he got rid of by slicing all but one of the limbs off of Peritibis and stamping the Torque Quinque with a single lizard boot.

With the final tendril, he swung Peritibis around like a Morningstar, taking out Lectulo and Archie off to the side but not out of the fight, before slamming Peritibis into the floor and causing the head to explode into plush fur.

Enid backed off instinctually as Gremlin pounced and slammed his tooth into The Nameless’ thigh. Once again, The Nameless didn’t even react as Lectulo scattered back to its feet, storming him at high speeds, which just got them grabbed and tossed straight upwards into the ceiling where they burst like confetti.

That left Archie and Gremlin. Gremlin was in no trouble, if The Nameless had shown no reason to attack him, but now Archie was back on stable footing and galloping towards The Nameless as he just strode forward with his eyes locked on Enid and Enid only. Rex also took a battle position, albeit not a confident one as he continued to surge forward, the smoke billowing from his mouth as he laughed to himself.

“Nameless, no!” And then Divan was in between them. The Nameless actually stopped, tilting his head like a curious dog as he growled. “Nameless, please... I... It doesn’t need to be this way.”

The Nameless didn’t even try to listen to what Divan had to say, shoving him aside. That caused Divan to make the incorrect decision of grabbing The Nameless by the cloak, trying to force him to stop, which caused the whole thing to yank him back like he was actually attached to his hood.

That was the turning point for The Nameless. He turned around, violently grabbing Divan by the face and throwing him to the ground, driving his sword through the chest of the birdman. Blood flew from the mouth of the one on the ground... but what he didn’t expect is that Divan was then dropping from the rafters, driving the black bladed katana through the chest of The Nameless, which made it flinch and try to pull it way.

As The Nameless pulled back, scratching at the sword like it was a needle in a haystack, Divan hopped off his shoulders and rushed to the side of the fallen Divan- the form of which had shifted into a completely motionless Mirage instead.

“NO!” He got on his hands and knees, picking up the body of Mirage. “No, no, no, no, no... It wasn’t supposed to be like this... I...”

“Divan!”

Rex yelled just in time to see that The Nameless was pulling his katana out through the exit point, showing that he didn’t care about the damage, and had bitten into the sharp half to snap it into pieces. Then, he breathed in intensely, breathing out a hurricane of fire which everyone barely avoided.

The intense heat... it was unlike what Enid had ever felt before. She could remember... something about fire in her youth... and it was ten times hotter than that.

The Nameless surged forwards, his weapon in prime stabbing motion as he was almost about to cut a hole through Enid. In a last ditch effort, Enid curled into a ball, the blade going right over the head of her instead, where she felt the dripping heat of volcanic rock scorch along her back. She tuck and rolled through his legs, barely getting through the back end of his cloak as she did, which succeeded in getting her caught by the hair and beginning to be pulled above ground had Rex not batted the hand away.

Of course, it only took one quick back of the hand to send Rex to the floor, his staff spiralling across the room. Enid couldn’t get to her feet fast enough as the blade of The Nameless went up...

But never went down again, as something grabbed onto the elbow bend, and clung on for dear life. Enid followed the chain to see the saviour at the entrance of the room.

“Hey there!” Colmary, who was barely keeping strength against The Nameless, had managed to pull off the mother of all saves. “Little help?!”

Enid nodded, running towards The Nameless and slamming the dagger into his leg. He cried out slightly, the demonic roar of a dinosaur-meets-hound echoing the room as the blade changed targets. Enid again barely jumped as the blade went low, and then ducked as it went high. What she didn’t expect it to do was go wide, which had her almost dodge into it had Colmary not yanked the weapon fast enough.

The Nameless changed targets again, his free hand grabbing the chain and finally wrenching the weapon with enough force to send Colmary flying. Smartly, he let go before he could be pulled out of the doorway- a lesson he’d learnt from his fight with the L.A.D.S.- but it did mean he lost his weapon as the teeth of it melted under the heat’s pressure and eventually locked the jaws like a harness to the weapon.

For a second, Enid thought that was their advantage, which was stupid thing to think when the chain was already in The Nameless’ hand. In fact, had he gotten more than four swings off, which is the number it took for it to grapple around the staff of Rex as Colmary used it as defence, it would’ve probably been the reason they died.

After snapping the chain and, subsequently, the staff, Rex and Colmary were standing side by side with a hammer and a spear version of the staff. Enid also got up, not much help without a weapon, but still willing to fight.

If it had gone any further, yes, Enid and Rex and Colmary would’ve been slaughtered like livestock. Three on one against the Nameless was a severe disadvantage, in the Three’s corner.

That’s why, before The Nameless could even take his first step, a crossbow bolt flew down the corridor and landed right behind the teeth of creature, exploding into shrapnel upon impact. Colmary immediately spun around, confused, as the fourth member of the raiding group stormed down, the discarded crossbow in hand.

“About time you got here!” Rex broke the silence. “Osper, where have you been?”

“I thought we broke into teams,” Osper simply replied.

“We did. Then my team got greedy and began freeing prisoners instead, began taking them back to the surface,” Colmary explained. “What about yours?”

Osper rolled his eyes. “We hit a dead end. Immovable door. I think it’ll have the Heart Chamber behind it, but...”

Divan was still on the ground with Mirage’s bird as he heard the voice. He looked up, wiping tears. “O-Osper...”

Osper looked at Divan for a single second before reloading the crossbow. Enid put a hand on it before he could fire it. “He’s going to take us to the Heart Chamber.”

“... I don’t believe that for a second.”

“We’re giving him the benefit of the doubt.” Enid sighed. “... One more chance. If he betrays us again, then--”

The sentence got cut off as Osper’s crossbow flew upwards again. This time it didn’t aim at Divan- it aimed at The Nameless, who’d just sat up without any signs he’d been hit by the bolt. Again, the group went into combat stances, only this time for Osper to cut it off with another explosive bolt.

This time, the head fully blew off. Charred brain flew everywhere, steaming blood like rivers of magma spraying from the base. The body went limp for a half-second, only to straighten again as the head of The Nameless began to regenerate from the neck stump.

“H-How do we kill this guy?!” Enid yelled as the body began to slowly get up again.

“We don’t,” Osper replied. “That’s why we do this.”

Osper unfurled something from his side then- a strange, bluish crystal, pulsing with a yellow light like it didn’t matter what colour it was supposed to be. Osper crushed it into his palm, making a weird face as his fist tightened.

“By the order of The One Beyond...” Osper said those words so toxically that Enid worried about catching something from them. “I banish you twenty years into the future.”

Then, Osper threw the dust at The Nameless. For the slightest second, The Nameless didn’t even react- he didn’t even seem to know what was supposed to happen as the head returned with a scowl. Then, just when The Nameless’ smile began to come back...

He vanished in a burst of blue and yellow smoke.

Colmary made a weird scoffing sound. “O-Osper! What the hell was that?!”

“A present from The One Beyond,” Osper admitted. “The last thing I had of Mila besides the locket. Told myself I’d only ever use it if I got to take revenge on the people who took her from me.”

Rex nodded slowly. “Alright, Divan. We’ve protected you; now you do your side of the story.”

Divan sighed, getting to his feet. He held Mirage in his hands, gently cradling him. Despite the stuff Divan had put her through, Enid did feel like she should say something to him.

“... Hey, Divan? I--”

... That moment never came, as suddenly a leather whip wrapped itself around Divan’s neck and just... snapped his neck. To make extra sure, a pair of cutting scissors went through, too, decapitating the head off the shoulders to should who was responsible.

“Well, well, well...” Blanche laughed. “I told you I’d prepared our date, darling.”

Enid was shocked as the body of Divan fell limp onto the floor. Unlike The Nameless, the body didn’t begin to try and get back up- it just stayed there, blood seeping out onto the floor.

“Alright, I’ve got this bitch, gang!” Colmary got his claws ready. “Let me handle this one while you guys go find the Heart Chamber! I--”

“No.”

Osper shoved Colmary back violently, forcing the crossbow into his hands. He took two steps forward, drawing his foot in a line in front of him. The trio left watched as Blanche adjusted her bra straps, making her chest area bounce like she was flirting with Osper’s cold expression.

“... I told you...” He spoke in a low, angry tone. “That I would kill the person who took her from me. The person who I loved so much... the only one who understood me in the land of the lawless...”

“...But I did some thinking, recently, and I realised something.” He spat, pacing gently from side to side. “Of all the people I’ve lost... you were the only one I ever felt guilty for. You made me realise that you was the only person who cared about me. You made me realise I was nothing without you.”

Enid’s eyes widened as the realisation hit her like a freight train.

Blanche smirked hard. “I’ve missed you, Osper... How long has it been since we last talked like this?”

“Well...” Osper cracked his knuckles. “Here I am. But unfortunately... you and I are about to have some domestic violence, Mila.”

**CHAPTER END**


	18. CHAPTER 17- The Youngblood and The Harlot

# CHAPTER 17- The Youngblood and The Harlot

My heart was beating out of my chest as I watched Osper and Blanche prowl in a circle like caged lions.

“Why now?” Blanche was more swaggering than prowling, shaking her lower body as she laughed about it. “Why, after all this time, you decide to come crawling the catacombs of your lost life?”

“I’m not going to warrant that with a response,” Osper quipped. “After all, I know for a fact Mila’s not in that body to answer it.”

Colmary seemed shocked. “Mila... Mila, Mila- that name’s familiar.”

“It’s the name of his girlfriend,” Enid made sure he knew. “Mila’s the one he’s been trying to avenge this entire time. The one he said he’d... not stop until he’d killed the killer of.”

Enid couldn’t help but feel strained as she tried to ignore a horrific feeling in her stomach. The killer who killed Mila would be... The One Beyond, right? Because that’s was the one who turned her into this.

Enid tried to keep this to herself as Colmary looked at the ruined mess that was his weapon. “I don’t think I can help with this fight...”

“I don’t want help,” Osper snapped back. “She’s my problem.”

“You’re going to take on a High Guardian yourself?!” Enid yelled. “Are you crazy?!”

“Yes.”

Enid watched in terror as Osper tossed the crossbow aside. He instead cracked his knuckles, which made Blanche laugh haughtily at the idea of fighting in hand to hand combat.

“Truly, have you lost your mind?” Blanche asked in a repeat statement. “Do you have any idea what power The One Beyond granted me?”

Osper shook his head. “Don’t know, don’t care. Mila, I don’t know what he’s gotten into your head, but The One Beyond has corrupted you. I know you can’t hear me, wherever it is you’ve gone, but you aren’t her.”

Osper rolled his shoulders, going full combat.

“That makes this so much easier for me.”

Rex waved his hands at the others. “Come on. Osper’s got this one.”

Colmary growled. “Rex, we can’t just leave him here—”

“This is what he wanted, right?” Rex gripped Colmary’s shoulder. “Come on. We’ve got no reason to stay.”

Colmary shrugged Rex’s arms off, but realised he was right, following after him as they hauled down the hallway. Enid was going to follow, but after a few ginger steps she realised she couldn’t. This is what Osper had wanted, yes, but it was too much for her to argue with. She couldn’t stop watching him sorely because it was a one-on-one fight.

“You were supposed to be my equal!” Blanche spoke in a tone more like she was reminding Osper than telling him. “You were supposed to be my darkness. _Meine geschwärzte Lotusblume._ What made you reject the power?”

Osper snarled. “That. Right there. Where’s the passion in your statement, Mila? I never wanted to be the Schwarz to your Blanche- I wanted to be happy.”

“We were meant to be perfect, Darling.” She giggled again. “I never fell into bad habits, simply absorbed what made us royal. Don’t you see that this was the way we were meant to live?”

“If my life was to be lived with a woman who thought immortality was the only way to be alive...” Osper spat. _“Je préfère être mort.”_

Enid took another step back as it seemed the fight was going to begin. However, as she did, she felt a presence behind her that caused her to turn two seconds too late.

The form of Eon sprung upon her, the sharpened end of her pipe raised. Enid didn’t have time to block, but had time to be protected as Gremlin sprung up and out of nowhere, screaming as the needlepoint entered his stomach.

Osper turned to see what just happened, resulting in a harsh kick to the midsection, followed by Blanche grabbing his head with a mighty yell and thrusting him through the wall. Enid tumbled backwards as they went out of view, probably falling to the lower levels.

Eon pulled Gremlin off her pipe like kebab meat, hurling a far-too-still wad of fur halfway across the room. “Typical you would fall into odd jobs for the lower class.”

Enid scrambled, rushing over to Gremlin. She picked him up, seeing that Gremlin was breathing, but in deep laboured breaths that made him seem far too injured to survive.

“W-Why...” Enid turned, seeing Eon was already twirling her pipe for another attack. “Why are you doing this?”

Eon’s mouth was still covered by the bandana, making it impossible to see what she was feeling right now. However, her tone of speech seemed angered as she swung her pipe around, trying to hit Enid with slashes that cut too close for comfort.

“Don’t you understand?! This is our life now, Enid!” Eon was swinging every fourth word. “That day I met you in the prison chambers, you showed potential. If you’d been obedient, you would’ve seen the way we did!”

Enid knew that Eon was just a kid, deep down, but right now she had to act. Enid grabbed Eon’s hand, wrestling free the pipe she was carrying. As she did, Eon began spluttering, taking a heaving breath as she pulled what appeared to be a modified inhaler from her belt and sucking down a pink liquid from it.

Enid looked over the pipe. She recalled the day that Eon had captured her- the day that she had smoked a pink powder from it- and realised all too quickly what was going on.

“... You’re dying,” Enid guessed.

“Doesn’t matter...” She took a deep breath, regaining composure. “I don’t really care for human illness. The One Beyond gave me leverage from it.”

“It... doesn’t seem that way...” Enid looked at the pipe, wondering if she could break it. “It seems like you’re still suffering.”

Eon used Enid’s bionic knee as a jump-pad as she dragged herself upwards, booting Enid in the face and grabbing her pipe back. She quickly pressed her finger into the bottom of the holding circle, causing it to light up and glow before pushing it against Enid’s stomach, making her wail and back away.

“The One Beyond gave me eternal life,” She growled. “The One Beyond gave me everything I wanted. So what if he slipped up in one place?”

Enid held the area that she’d burnt, feeling sick. “B-But you’re still sick! That’s... That’s not a fate you wanted, right?”

“So what if he slipped up?!” Eon repeated, louder. “I’m made in his image. That means I was always destined to be this way. The leukaemia would’ve killed me anyway... This was my choice.”

Enid’s heart broke when she saw Eon’s eyes turn from anger to sadness for the brief moment she was thinking about it. Enid had to dodge another stab when she snapped back, thrusting forward with her pipe that seemed to glisten in the light. Enid tried to kick out but Eon was too quick, cart wheeling backwards and throwing herself forwards like a gymnast with the intent of murder.

Enid put her hands up, thinking it would help, only to feel a sharp pain echo across her arm as the pipe cut through it. She grabbed outwards, curling a finger around Eon’s bandana and ripping it away. That cause Eon to stop for a bit, twirling away to cover her mouth, but Enid yanked her hair back to see what she was hiding.

Enid really wished she hadn’t. Not just because what she saw was mind-bogglingly disgusting, but because the pipe that Eon used found its way up into her shoulder blade, getting caught as Eon used the agony of the attack to get away and to where the bandana fell.

Before she could wrap it around her mouth, Eon spewed thick black vomit onto the tiles, worms and maggots inside of it squirming and festering. Enid had to resist the urge to vomit, too, as another wave of necrotic bile coated the floor below Eon’s feet. When she was done hurling, Eon slipped the bandana back onto her face, tying it tightly and taking a deep breath of her pink liquid canister.

Enid’s entire world changed then. She had thought that she was fighting a child.

Sure enough, if Eon was a child... then Enid was a baby.

“How...” Enid had to force the words out. “How old... are you?”

Eon didn’t give an exact number. “It was 1845. I was eight years old when I fell ill with the then unnamed virus. My parents, desperate to find me any sort of cure, asked every doctor across the borders of our home town to see if anyone knew of how to stop it.”

Enid had to block a few more punches, as Eon seemed desperate to kill her.

“Eventually, someone told us of this city. We travelled two weeks, with me getting worse and worse until finally we were trapped inside the walls... just like everyone before us.” Eon kicked out Enid’s other leg, dropping her to her knee, before pulling out the pipe from Enid’s shoulder and attempted to stab her in the eye, which Enid barely blocked. “I was already too far into my disease to be cured, so the one who found us took me to his home and attempted to pray for a quick passing.”

Enid pushed her backwards. Eon adjusted her clothing.

“That’s when The One Beyond took me in. Made me who I am today.” Eon wiped a small amount of dripping black vomit from out under her bandana. “Made me in his image.”

“His image was to make you like this?” Enid got up, not stopping to choose her words carefully. “I’d say he did a pretty shitty job!”

Eon’s eyes narrowed. “You speak because you don’t know the fate that awaits you!”

With that, she dashed forwards, going for another easy to block stab. Enid grappled Eon up and into a chokehold, hoping that Eon didn’t need to use her lungs to breathe. This was all for naught as the pipe found itself rammed into Enid’s stomach, making her drop Eon as the girl twisted the blade.

With another quick pull of the pipe out of Enid, the pipe weaved its way across her body, cutting deep lashes into Enid’s skin that made her cry out with every hit. Eon had the upper hand, that much was obvious, but Enid refused to fall back, just painfully throwing a punch or a kick where she could.

Eventually, the pipe found its way into Enid’s neck. She choked as Eon pulled it out, a gush of blood escaping with it, and Enid held her throat closed as she fell backwards.

Enid hadn’t even laid a scratch. Eon knew that, taunting her. “Pathetic.”

Enid couldn’t speak. She looked up at Eon as the girl walked up Enid’s body, holding her head down with her shoe.

“I shouldn’t do this, you know.” Eon suddenly removed her bandana again. This time, Enid got a good look at what was underneath- a maw of broken teeth and festering gums, worms and maggots spilling out and onto the floor around her. “I shouldn’t let you live. But The One Beyond would be more than happy to see you on our side. You’ve caused enough trouble already.”

Enid gagged at the smell as Eon reached down with her bandana. That didn’t go anywhere, as suddenly a sound of a whizzing arrow echoed the room, and the bolt of it blossomed from the chest of Eon. Blackened blood sprayed the area.

Eon looked down at it, confused. “W-What...?”

And then, the crossbow that had been discarded swung from the right, sending Eon’s form across the room. Enid’s vision glazed as she looked up at her saviour.

“Oh my God...” The familiar voice of a female echoed the room. “O-Okay, I can... I can fix this. Enid, please don’t die... I can help...”

Enid’s eyes blinked closed slowly as pressure was placed around her neck.

All she could think about was how warm and soft Bandit’s hands were.

**...**

Osper crashed through the wall and down a shaft, Blanche on top of him landing punches across his face. He managed to twirl them around just in time, putting his arm over Blanche’s neck as the impact of the floor was pushed against Blanche’s back instead of his.

It would’ve killed her, definitely, had she not been possessed by The One Beyond. Blanche kicked him backwards, sending him across the new room before twirling upwards and onto her feet from the lying down position.

“Honestly, if you wanted a peek, you should’ve asked.” Blanche decided to flash her chest to Osper as he groaned and got up from the floor. “Silly... we’ve been dating long enough for you to know that I’m happy to get my boobs out for you.”

Osper roared. “You aren’t her!”

Blanche laughed haughtily, buttoning her dress back up. “Am I not? Well, this makes this fight easier, then.”

Osper lunged forwards, hurtling a fist at Blanche which she blocked with relative ease. She unleashed a torrent of kicks and Osper managed to block the first four of, only getting caught by the last one because she faked him out on it by stamping the ground first. He was right back at her afterwards though, grabbing another kick and swinging her around and into a pillar that crumbled under the smashing weight of her face.

Osper got a half-second to breathe when Blanche flew from the dust, dive-kicking him, but he grabbed her foot before she could connect and slammed her into the floor. Blanche’s legs were more powerful than Osper had thought, however, as suddenly he was tossed aside when she kicked that direction, forcing him to let go when he hit a pillar, too. Osper dodged barely as the high heel of Blanche slammed into it next to his face.

Blanche pulled her leg free, just in time to avoid getting it snapped in half by a vicious axel-swing. She put a kick into Osper’s stomach, flinching him, before trying and succeeding to clock him with a sucker-punch that reeled him backwards. That sent Osper backwards before Blanche surged forwards again, expecting he’d be dizzy from the kick, but he was able to push her leg aside and ram his fist into her sternum before carrying her like a quarterback charging into the fray.

The impact against the second pillar sent it down on top of the pair. Blanche was the brunt of it, but Osper was unfortunate enough to get clobbered by her as she struggled free, sliding under his legs and landing a cheap shot to his genitals as she went. This caused him to double over, which allowed her to scissor kick him along the back. His back reared upwards from the attack, and though he looked to see where Blanche had attacked from he got cold-cocked by a shot to the midsection.

He blocked two more kicks as Blanche continued the onslaught. He returned with a kick of his own, dust flying off of her as the impact shook her system. She toppled backwards, grabbing a stone from the floor as she tuck-and-rolled backwards, hurtling it as she stood, blindsiding Osper as he was thinking of a game plan.

Osper wiped the blood that escaped his lip.

“Having fun, dear?” Blanche bit her thumb.

“You would know,” Osper tossed the blood onto the floor from his hand. “At least, she would.”

Blanche rolled her eyes. “Stop comparing me to your lost love, Osper.”

Osper shook his head. “You speak like you don’t remember me, yet you’ve been so adamant in reminding me who you are. Who are you, and why are you using Mila’s body?”

Blanche again laughed like she was flirting. “You know who I am.”

“ _Va te faire foutre_ ,” Osper replied. “I don’t know you. You’re a stranger using my girlfriend’s body, and you’ve turned her into a harlot.”

“Well...” Blanche blushed, which Osper didn’t think was possible. “I’m _your_ harlot, Osper. You wouldn’t believe me, but I still have rather intense feelings for you.”

“Well, I suppose that’s one thing that Mila kept when you hijacked her.”

Blanche let loose a cackling laugh, but then flew forward, racking Osper across the eyes with pillar dust to distract him from another vicious kick. He hobbled backward, and then threw his head forward, head butting Blanche to stop her from getting close while he wiped the dust from his eyes. When he could see again, he saw her going for another strike, but dodged under the kick and repaid the favour from earlier by stabbing upwards with his hand into her crotch.

He was aware that, when it came to genitals, he knew the hammer of unisex swung both ways.

Blanche tried to fight out the pain, but Osper saw how sluggish such pain was making her as she missed two kicks that would’ve obviously hit had she been aiming. She shook her head, shaking off whatever it is that was affecting her, giving Osper enough time to shoulder tackle her to give himself some leverage.

Of course, not enough, as Blanche was springing back into the fray within moments, turning his efforts to sand in front of him as she nailed him with a roundhouse kick that then turned into a double axel-swing of her own. Osper swore he heard something pop as she hit him on a spot on his shoulder, and as he reeled back in pain he realised that his right arm was beginning to go numb.

He continued to fight, though he knew for a fact then that his arm had been knocked out of place. He used that to his advantage, swinging around in a hurricane like style to catch her across the face, which knocked her for a loop since he wasn’t able to restrain the power on such a punch.

In a way, that punch was the first actual punch he’d thrown all fight. He knew deep down that he was still fighting Mila in a way. That was too much for him, and that was why he was beginning to lose the want to keep going.

But he told himself he’d kill his girlfriend’s killer. That was what he was going to do... as soon as he had an opening.

Unfortunately for him, it seemed Blanche had picked up on it, too. “... You’ve been holding back. I should feel offended... though, I suppose I guess it’s nice to see you still have feelings for her.”

Osper spat blood onto the floor, reconnecting his shoulder as he did. He said nothing, just looking Blanche dead in the eyes and motioning with his hand. Blanche shook her head, taking off her hat which for the entire fight hadn’t left her head.

“If you insist.”

Blanche threw the hat at him like a Frisbee, and obvious attempt at a distraction. However, it did seem to work as suddenly Osper found himself swinging high as Blanche went low, under the fist, towards his stomach as a sharp pain hit him all at once.

Osper looked down to see that there was now a sharp rock in his body, courtesy of Blanche. She made sure he knew it was there, too, stabbing him twice more as he tried to push her away. He managed to nail her with a good punch, sending her backwards, but couldn’t follow up as he dropped to his hands and knees, blood erupting from his stomach as he tried to hold it.

He coughed blood as he looked up, his eyes shakily following Blanche as she walked back up to him, laying a foot into his face to knock him backwards. On his back, she suddenly straddled his bleeding stomach, rocking her hips gently to taunt the fact that she’d won.

“It was a good effort,” she told him, “but to no avail. Dearie, do you really think you could beat the High Guardians? We’ve been fighting for longer than you were supposed to be alive.”

Osper’s vision faded, but he bit the inside of his cheek to keep his eyes open. Blanche took the sharp rock she’d used to push him into a fatal position and grabbed the tuft of hair that had been blocking the one eye, cutting it away in a single slash. For the first time in nearly 80 years, Osper saw clearly.

To some, it would be heaven to die to the underside of a woman. For Osper, it was just a reminder of his own failures. He didn’t try to move as Blanche pinned his shoulders with her elbows, leaning on him with a loving gaze.

“We were supposed to be equal,” She repeated again. “ _Ensemble pour toujours_ , was it not the phrase?”

“ _Ensemble jusqu'à la mort_ ,” Osper corrected her weakly. “I told you that we’d be together until death.”

“But I didn’t want to die...” Blanche smiled, dancing her fingers along his cheek. “ _Wir waren perfekt zusammen_... You had to go and ruin that.”

A hearty slap helped Osper cling on for longer.

_“meine liebende Lotusblume...”_

As Blanche raised up the sharp rock like a sacrificial weapon, she gave him an almost saddened gaze. Osper saw, deep in those inverted eyes, she was like him- she didn’t want to see him die, but at the same time knew it had to be done.

“Do you have any final words?” She smiled again, and the emotion faded. “I promise I’ll honour them.”

Osper took a sharp, jagged breath. He closed his eyes, knowing that she’d wait.

So... he kept her waiting, as a tiny, almost violent smile appeared on his face, before he spat blood onto her cheek. She made a motion with her head that seemed to denote respect, raising the rock higher, ready to plunge it into his chest.

So to force that opening he had waited for all fight, Osper spat something at her that he knew even she wouldn’t know.

“The One Beyond never gave me a choice of yes or no.”

That phrase caused her to pause to think about it, which gave Osper the fastest second to grab something he had been waiting to use the entire fight.

And in that moment, he made sure to give him her final words that he’d ever hear him say.

“ _Mortem tuam_ , MotherFUCKER!”

And on the final two syllables, he threw the point of the cross upwards, stabbing her right up through the bottom of the chin and into her skull. She dropped the rock, her arms lolling downwards, a small wave of blood dripping out of the area where he’d thrust the spike. Blanche’s body went heavy, collapsing downwards and onto Osper, to which he pushed her off and to the side.

He lay there, looking up at the roof for a while. The air was growing cold, which he knew meant that his time on the clock was growing thin. All he could think to do was look at the still body of Blanche, thoughts of Mila filling his head.

He pulled himself closer to her, getting side by side with her on the ground, and held her cold hand as his breathing got more laboured.

He didn’t really fear death. There was no reason to; he’d been waiting a long time for it. From what he knew, at least he and Mila were going to the same place, even if Mila didn’t deserve to be there.

Two victims of the war. Victims that should’ve died in the Great War, all those years ago.

And it was weird. Osper was rambling in his own mind, wondering how he was going to explain this to whoever he appeared in front of down there. Even though they might not even exist, but he doubted that. He doubted that very much.

The One Beyond gave him the choice of who should become all-powerful that day. The day he ‘rejected’ his power. The day he was shunned as a traitor. The day that, even after gaining the same immortality, he was seen as nothing more than human.

The day he told The One Beyond that he wanted Mila to have that power.

The day he began hunting for his girlfriend’s killer.

All that time... he knew exactly who it was. The person who forced Mila to become something she was never supposed to be. Someone that she should’ve never become, so lustful for power that it translated into her own personality.

He’d looked the killer in the mirror every day, telling him that one day, he was going to kill him. He’d stopped helping others, thinking that the killer would go for them too.

And now, with Enid and Bandit and Colmary and Rex away... with nothing more than the pain in his heart and his stomach and the ever looming darkness consuming him...

Osper gave a warm, hearty laugh, thumping his head on the steel grating that lay underfoot. A massive smile on his face and both eyes open to the air, he couldn’t help it.

“... I love you, Mila...” He squeezed her hand. “I-I guess you were right huh?”

A single bloody tear ran down Osper’s face as he spoke his final words in a death rattle.

“Together Forever.”

**CHAPTER END**


	19. CHAPTER 18- The Mindsplitter

# CHAPTER 18- The Mindsplitter

Enid really had to stop passing out in places she didn’t recognise.

With a groan, she sat up, holding her forehead as the burning sensation in it slowly died down. It took a second, but she heard the voice of Bandit as she rushed over, carefully taking Enid’s hand.

“Enid! Enid, hey...” She moved her head to look at her, kissing her as she did. “It’s me. It’s Bandit.”

“B-Bandit?” The name obviously struck fear into Enid’s heart. “I told you to--”

“I know!” She interrupted. “I-I know, but... I couldn’t. I followed you. I... I saved you.”

“You...” Enid remembered what happened, feeling downwards with her hand.

“W-Wait! Don’t...” Enid’s hand was grabbed, pulled away from the wound. “D-Don’t undo the bandage...”

Enid blinked. She realised that one of the fresh bandages from around Bandit’s arm was missing, revealing the scarring underneath. Enid gently moved her hands back to her neck, feeling that familiar feeling of gauzed bandage underneath.

It was nice to have a girlfriend with medical experience. Enid smiled wider when she realised she had one in general.

Of course, that’s when she remembered something else. “Gremlin!”

She scrambled up to him, the weakness of the fight now overshadowed. She rushed to the furry companion’s side, kneeling next to him and looking down at him with a terrified expression.

“GREMLIN! Gremlin, I--”

... The dull void of life was not present. Her eyes widened and her jaw shuddered, that sharp realisation that Gremlin wasn’t present in his body.

He was gone. Dead. It felt almost impossible, but... He really was dead. No breathing, no movement, no light in the eyes, those having turned a dull grey.

“... G-Gremlin...”

Enid... wasn’t sure how to react. She had dealt with the death of pets before. She had cried over them. But Gremlin wasn’t a pet, in the sense- he was a companion; a fluffy, admittedly phallic shaped companion who didn’t deserve to die, even if his most useful ability was to yell slightly louder than the average toddler.

Maybe that’s why Enid couldn’t find herself crying about it. Maybe that’s why, even after it hit her all at once that Gremlin was actually gone... She was only putting him down courteously, making sure he was settled. She found where his eyelids were, shutting them gently, trying to be respectful as possible.

Bandit walked over, putting a hand on Enid’s shoulder. “I-I’m sorry, Enid... I tried to help him, but... by the time I was at his side, he...”

“I-It’s okay.” Enid nodded. “I-I understand.”

“He was a good...” Bandit paused. “W-Whatever he was.”

“... He was.” That’s when Enid took a nice deep breath. “S-So that’s why we’re gonna end this for him, right? For everyone they’ve hurt and killed.”

“End it...?”

Enid spun around, seeing that after all of that, Eon was still alive. Hogtied by her own bandana, yes, but alive, the black pus-like substance still dripping from her mouth. She laughed psychotically, obviously trying to show her belief for their claims.

“You? End it?” Eon taunted. “You’re going to get killed. Don’t even try it.”

“You don’t know that,” Bandit told her.

“Did she cause you much trouble...?” Enid got up, dusting herself off.

“No. She was out cold when I clocked her,” Bandit explained. “But she gained consciousness a few minutes after I tied her up, so...”

“So you’ve been talking with her a while. Got it.” Enid walked over to Eon. “Listen. Here’s what’s going to happen now--”

“Don’t attempt to force me to do anything, Enid.” Eon laughed again, flopping forwards to be face down on the ground. “I’m not telling you anything. Not telling you the location of the Heart Chamber, not the location of the Grand Chamber. You’re finding it yourself.”

“Well, that’s... rude.” Bandit crossed her arms, picking at a thread on her dress.

“What’s ‘Rude’ is you all coming here, after everything we did for this city.” Eon began to ramble, almost desperately. “We gave you everything. Comfort. Food. Water. You disrespect us like this?”

“Clearly, you’ve forgotten all the times you tried to kill us,” Enid reminded her. “And the people you’ve kidnapped. The people you’ve scarred, and corrupted. You could give them anything they ever desired, and you’d fail to give them freedom.”

Eon growled, an act that made maggots spewed from in-between her charred teeth. “You disrespect the word of The One Beyond!”

“I disrespect it because it’s WRONG!” Enid yelled back. “You fear mongered everyone! Made them think there was no way out!”

“Because there isn’t,” Eon quoted. “We’re all here for a reason. No need to let anyone go...”

Bandit shook her head. “You disgust me. You’re so... so lost in your o-own head.”

Eon giggled, wriggling like the creatures she was releasing from her mouth. “I gave my soul for The One Beyond, and he gave me eternity of life. He gave me everything I ever wanted. Everything I... Ever... wanted...”

Suddenly, she rocketed out a disgusting tar mixture, coating everything in front of her with wriggling black ichor. Bandit had to back away, holding her hands over her mouth, while Enid just watched in terror as she let loose another jet, coating the area in front of her. Slowly but surely, her body began rotting at an accelerated rate, melting away into the void-black mixture that surrounded her, all the while she laughed and vomited further.

When silence was finally in the area, Bandit grabbed Enid’s hand, forcing her away from the plethora of blacks and greys that consumed the area where Eon had once been, as she continued watching on.

“E-Enid?” Bandit asked her gently.

“... She was just a kid.” Enid replied, her voice cracking. “T-They forced her to... to see the way they did. Made her like that.”

Bandit tucked her arms under Enid’s, hugging her from behind. Enid didn’t bother to let that style of hug continue, turning and hugging back, holding onto her tightly so they didn’t have to look.

Of course... that meant there was one more High Guardian.

One more... that Enid wouldn’t have to deal with.

**...**

Colmary surged through the corridor, holding onto the idea that he and Rex were on the right track. Through the doors and down the halls, they came upon a rounded room- a rounded room that contained over a hundred corpses, painting the walls red with their blood.

Rex slowed down as Colmary run full force into the room. “Wait, Colmary!”

Colmary got no chance to slow down as he suddenly slammed into a false wall. He crashed through it, falling into the dark inky abyss of the other world, a hundred seconds of freefall into the darkness before slamming onto a platform just big enough to hold him.

He growled and yelled in pain, coughing as he sat up. All too real, all too fake- Colmary instantly knew where he was. He’d been here before, twice to be exact, though the second time was against his will.

So why was he here now? That was a good question. If he wasn’t here because of the ritual, and he wasn’t here because of a coffin, that meant only one more option.

“PATHWALKER!” He yelled into the Void. “I know you’re here! Why else would I be brought to The Grand Beyond?!”

“You’ve made quite the name for yourself.”

Colmary spun to face Pathwalker, who’d spawned behind him in his human form. He shook his head at him, both of them looking very out of place in the darkness around them as they stayed lit up like candles.

Colmary laughed then. “Face it, Pathwalker. This is over. Osper’s bound to have dealt with Blanche by now, and you’re all alone.”

Pathwalker leant back slightly, closing his eyes. “I cannot convince you to stop. I know this. But I know I can fight.”

“For what?” Colmary motions around. “All of this?”

Pathwalker tutted, not even signing that with a quote. Instead, he whipped back the darkness like a table cloth, sitting at a chair that spawned beneath him, motioning for Colmary to do the same.

To his surprise, which was clear on his face, Colmary actually did, putting his grungy fur-topped feet up. “So what are we talking about? What ‘Deal’ can you possibly make me?”

“This is not a deal.” Pathwalker clicked, making a deck of cards appear on the table. “This is a bet. I bet you I can beat you in a game of poker.”

“If you win, I stop, if you lose, we continue,” Colmary summed up what he was about to say. “Yeah, well... no deal.”

Colmary sweeped the cards off the table as he put his legs down.

“We’ve come too far to let you try and BET your way into stopping us,” Colmary slammed his fist on the table. “You want to cheapskate it in this world, be my guest, but you won’t get in my way.”

Pathwalker’s brow furrowed. “What do you suggest I do then? Let the legacy of my cult die at the hands of a Werewolf, a Fur-bound Psycho, a French Runaway and some girl?”

“... She’s not just ‘Some Girl’, thank you very much.” Colmary crossed his arms, leaning in his chair. “Enid has accomplished more in the few months she’s been here then you will ever do in your lifetime. So how about you respect HER name rather than the un-named God you never even met?”

Pathwalker’s eye twitched. “Do not disrespect me like that again.”

“Oh, I’m gonna.” Colmary leant in, delivering the final line of the conversation. “How does it feel to know she’s going to meet him before you are?”

With that, the table was thrown aside, and the mess of hair and black tentacles erupting from his back. He began floating upwards, carried by the tendrils that continued to erupt out and consume him, reverting him back to the familiar figure he was in the real world. Of course, that’s not where he stopped- the tendrils and hair began building, and building, until finally he was in a form of true power.

There was no need for legs on the creation- it was big enough that the arms were wider and longer than anything Colmary had seen before. His hands had six fingers, and his eyes glowed red, as big as boulders and just as actively rolling. One tooth that grew out of the river sized mouth could probably crush Colmary underneath it, completely with the constantly writhing movement of the skin and the muscles. A long mane of hair flowed from the creature’s head and down its back, ever moving like a bubbling brook, the ends melded together to look sharp and dangerous.

The voice that boomed from ‘Pathwalker’ was no longer his own. It seemed to be many voices at once- the voices of ten thousand other damned souls.

“THIS POWER DOESN’T BELONG TO ME, HUH?!” The creature screamed from a mouth that didn’t move. “THIS POWER ISN’T MY OWN?!”

Colmary backed away, a little frightened of the demon rearing down on them.

“I DO NOT NEED TO MEET THE ONE BEYOND! MY WORSHIP GRANTS ME THIS POWER! DO NOT INSULT ME AGAIN... WELL, I SUPPOSE YOU WON’T... WHEN I CRUSH YOU LIKE THE BUG YOU ARE!”

Colmary tried to feign fear for as long as he could. But, as the hand rose up to slam down on him, giving him around 30 seconds of dodging time, he decided to let it go into a sharp smirk.

“Killing me?” Colmary laughed again. “I’m afraid... that’s IMPOSSIBLE!”

Colmary hopped backwards, knowing full well that the Coffin that he’d just summoned was there. He was all too familiar with what this world was capable of. No need to hide that as he undid the chain and flipped open the lid, showing him a dismantled weapon that had no place being there.

Just the way he remembered it.

“Tell me, Pathwalker!” As he spoke, Colmary assembled the weapon as quick as a flash. “You’ve got all this power and all this potential; you should be invincible, right?!”

The hand stopped moving as Pathwalker responded. “I AM INVINCIBLE.”

“Yeah, sure!”

And suddenly, Colmary spun around, wielding a weapon that glowed bright green as the energy built inside it.

“And this is a RAILGUN!”

Colmary flew backwards with the shot, onto the ground to watch the energy bolt fly forward like an arrow. It moved way too fast for Pathwalker to block- not like he could, as proven by one of the fingers getting completely cut through by the power of the weapon. When the energy pierced the chest, Pathwalker roared with pain, something that gave Colmary full confidence that he could kill him.

“FOOL! YOU THINK THIS WILL STOP ME?!”

“No, of course not.” Colmary winked. “That’s impossible. Speaking of Impossible, let’s talk more about that.”

Colmary sidestepped, drumming his fingers on the coffin that was stacked upon the other coffin.

“Like, how Impossible it is that you still think you’re winning.” Colmary began walking forward, kicking the darkness to reveal that’s where the coffin was hidden. “Or how it’s Impossible that you’ve gained this much power! Honestly, I’m impressed!”

Pathwalker’s new form just watched as Colmary moved closer and closer, laughing and talking and not paying attention to the Coffins that appeared.

“Hell, let’s even say that it’s Impossible that I don’t know what happens when you get put down here.” That causes Colmary to stop, sitting on the coffin that spawns seemingly underneath him, just like Pathwalker did. “Because I do. I knew the second you opened the portal in front of me, you weren’t planning to let me go, even after our ‘Bet’. You never were that way inclined.”

Then, the body opened, revealing Pathwalker who was hooked up to his new form like a puppet on a string. “And what would YOU know?”

“Very little.” Colmary crossed his legs. “But I know you’re full of shit. And I know that the son of the mayor is probably just as sleazy.”

“You know nothing about my father.” Pathwalker was hoisted down, but not detached. “He was twice the man you’d ever be.”

“Easy when I’m part fox, asshole.” Colmary kicks the coffin’s box, seeing if anything inside is alive. “But I know now. Even if you die, I’ll be trapped here. I’ll have no way out. Trapped in an infinite plain with nobody to talk to.”

Pathwalker smiled sadistically. “True. I was never going to give you a way out.”

“Would you say a way out is impossible?”

Another coffin appeared to the side of the massive form of Pathwalker’s beast.

Pathwalker laughs then, and Colmary’s ears flinched at the sound of the beast laughing too. “What is it you’re planning, Colmary? What do you want from me?”

“A word.” Colmary’s smile faded, turning to false anger. “One single word. You can do that for me, right?”

Pathwalker shook his head. “And what word would that be?”

“I don’t know.” Colmary stands, using his toes to unscrew the lock on the coffin. “Maybe the word your father said when he was told he was being pulled out of office? The last word that The Nameless said before you removed his ability to speak entirely? Or maybe the word that Osper screamed as you tried to force him to partake in the ritual? Maybe the one that I’ve been chanting the entire time about your USELESS, HORRIFIC RITUAL, THAT TURNED US ALL INTO BEASTS LIKE YOU’VE BECOME? HUH?”

Colmary got right in Pathwalker’s face.

“TELL THE VOID, PATHWALKER! TELL THE DAMNED SOULS YOU’VE TRAPPED HERE THAT THIS WORLD IS IMPOSSIBLE!”

Pathwalker responded with the same amount of power. “You wanna hear it?! You want to hear me say it?! THEN I WILL.”

And just as Colmary expected... the beast roared too.

“THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!”

... The word echoed off of the endless plain, just like the beast’s original words had. Over and over, into the darkness and back, with no way to stop it. Colmary smiled as he unlocked the coffin.

He decided to get one last joke in.

“That wasn’t the word I was looking for.” Colmary snickered. “The word I was looking for was... ‘Whoops!’”

He was lying of course. He was good at that. The effects of his work applied instantly- a swarm of flies flew from the coffin behind him, all of them seemingly to understand what they should do immediately, flying to the other coffins and tampering with the locks, screwing them open. One by one the lids flew open, more flies or even people getting thrown out into the very place Pathwalker had sacrificed them to.

Souls that had been waiting so long for revenge against him.

Pathwalker seemed to recognise a few, which gave him prompting to try and carry himself back to the surface. However, a large grubby mitt grabbed him around the throat, pulling him back down.

“So, wanna waste my talent on free drinks, eh?” The Bartender from Third Quarter spat at him, like he’d once spit into a glass to clean it.

Pathwalker struggled under the grip. “T-This is wrong! What are you doing?! I gave you what you wanted- you wanted to be the most successful bartender in--”

A punch cut him off, severing connection from the beast that fell silent. “I wanted to be the best bartender in Tekcas City. I didn’t know you’d KILL ME to get that.”

Colmary stepped back as the angry mob began to yell all their complaints. They’d been trapped there for hundreds, maybe thousands of days, waiting for the things that the souls never got but the body never appreciated.

Husks had been waiting for their souls, and the souls knew that now.

“Please, this is just a misunderstanding!” Pathwalker fell to his knees as the Bartender let go, and he began crawling backwards to his ‘power’. “I was just... trying to make things better, you know?! Happier from what was going on!”

... through the crowd came the seven foot form of an unfamiliar man, who shoved the Bartender violently aside. Pathwalker’s eyes wobbled with fear as what was once The Nameless gave him the familiar sadistic grin.

“N-No, please...” Closer and closer the crowd began getting to him. “Please, I did everything right! Get away! GET OFF OF ME!”

And as his screaming echoed the endless plain, Colmary wiped his brow. Blood spewed from under the crowd as they beat him senseless and then to death, ripping him limb from limb and then limbs of hair away when it began to try and replace itself. Colmary walked over, sitting on the only unopened coffin of the bunch.

He knew what was in it. There was no need to pretend that the coffin he sat on wasn’t his- the one his soul had been trapped inside all that time ago. The soul that finally began the resurgence against the Cult of Tekcas.

For the first time in nearly fifty years, Colmary could Rest in Peace.

Not like he had anything better to do now that he was trapped in The Grand Beyond.

Colmary lay back slightly, feeling cold. He did have... one thing he could study. One thing that he knew would take an eternity to even find out.

Where exactly... did the Coffins come from?

**END CHAPTER**


	20. CHAPTER 19- The One Beyond

# CHAPTER 19- The One Beyond

Bandit and Enid made their way through it all. They found, it all- the body of Osper, lifeless, holding the hand of Blanche. The room of bodies, of which Rex was shaking in.

And after silence of walking for over what felt like a day, they came across something that could only be one thing.

“T-This is...” Enid recognised immediately. “The Grand Chamber.”

And the reason she recognised it was because it was the room she first met Eon and The Nameless and Blanche in. The room that she finally began to revolt against the cult in. The room Osper saved her from, all those days ago.

Weeks? Months? How long has it been?

Does Enid even care anymore? The answer was no. She walked forwards, looking at the throne that once housed Eon. She was unsure how this place was the place that she would speak to The One Beyond, but...

Suddenly, the rolling-R growl of Archie echoed the room as he rushed over to Rex, who scooped him up in a hug. This was it- the last people who would have to talk to The One Beyond. Enid, Bandit, Rex and... Archie.

Bandit hummed. “I don’t... u-understand.”

“We need to find the way into The Heart Chamber,” Rex reminded them. “If it’s here, then this is the room we’ll find it.”

“The Heart Chamber...” Bandit crossed her arms. “I-It... It would be in this room? Where would it be?”

“Under the floorboards.”

Enid immediately stamped hard, cracking one. Sure enough, a reddish mist escaped the floor, showing her hunch was correct. Couldn’t be above them, couldn’t move the throne- it had to be somewhere in the room, so it had to be under them.

Enid pulled away the floorboard, revealing that there was a staircase on the far left underneath them. After a few more minutes, they’d pulled away the false floor, uprooting the whole mechanism that would’ve opened the floor if they’d actually tried to do it correctly. The red mist of something lower down escaped into the air, almost inviting the group down to the abyss.

To say it was dark was impossible. ‘Void’ would be the word to describe it- blacker than black, absorbing light like a black hole, the inky swirling paint on water.

Enid steeled herself. “We have to go down.”

“I-Into there...?” Bandit asked.

“It’s the only way,” Rex replied. “Come on.”

And then, they began heading down. Into that darkness, that almost violated their forms, as they almost swam downwards. It was unlike any feeling Enid had ever felt; a cross between wading through a shallow pool and walking in space itself.

She was acutely aware that she was moving in slow motion. She wasn’t sure if it was because it was her subconscious, or if the darkness around her was making her do it. Bandit and Rex didn’t seem to be doing it either, meaning that she was the only one.

The staircase was made of stone, with ruby running through it. It pulsed with light, light that was absorbed into the darkness again like nothing was out of place. Down and down, and down further, down into what felt like the core of the Earth. They even had to pause for breath at one point.

After what felt like a day of travelling, they were at the bottom of the staircase. It was there they finally discovered the true extent of The Heart Chamber.

And sure enough... it was a massive heart. Beating, the veins of Ruby and Gold, one pulse per seven seconds, the mist of red pumping from severed veins. Five of them, to be exact- only one remained.

The main one. The one that held this massive, beating heart to the ceiling of the chamber.

Enid looked under the heart, showing that there was a sacrificial altar. This was it- the place where so many lives were taken. People were changed for the worst. It was soaked with blood, so much that it added at least another inch to the top, completely dried as if it hadn’t been used in a long time.

The One Beyond had been waiting for someone to corrupt in a while.

“Alright...” Enid crossed her arms. “Let’s make this quick.”

Bandit gulped, looking at the pews where the cultists would’ve watched every sacrifice. “H-How do we contact him?”

Rex was already at the closet at the far back, looking through books to try and find the answer. Enid wish she had something sharp to try and cut away at it, which under her breath she realised she did- the Sacrificial Dagger that hung on the wall nearby. She took it, seeing it was horrifically used, blood making the new blade around it.

Bandit shook her head. “S-So... Do we have to destroy the heart?”

“I think so,” Bandit turned to it. “Can we do that, Rex?”

Rex... stayed silent. He was reading the book, his face slowly but surely turning to fear. He swallowed hard. “I-It... It says that... the heart cannot be destroyed. We can’t talk to him if we don’t.”

“Then why bother?!” Enid pointed the knife. “Let’s just destroy it and--”

“No!” Rex yelled, interrupting. “If we destroy the heart, the curse over Tekcas City won’t be removed. We have to... We have to contact him, get him to release the chokehold on the city. Finally give the peace to the people who have waited for it.”

“But to do that?” Bandit asked gently.

“We... We have to meet him.” Rex shook his head. “Head on. And there’s only one way to do that.”

Bandit looked at the sacrificial altar, already understanding what was going on. In order to meet The One Beyond, they’d have to do the exact same thing so many times before them. They had to perform the ritual.

And that would mean... sacrifice someone to him.

Rex immediately slammed the book shut. “I’ll do it.”

“But... But how...” Bandit grumbled. “But how will we know you’ll do it right?”

“I don’t know.” Rex shrugged. “But hey, you guys have more life ahead you then me. I’m a perfect candidate.”

“We can’t get Archie to do it,” Enid added. “He’s... not... human.”

Archie meowed in response.

Bandit then held Enid’s hand as Rex walked over to the sacrificial altar, sitting upon it with a deep, unwanting gaze. “I promise, by the time I’m done, we’ll be out of here.”

... Enid heard his wording. ‘We’ will be out of here- not ‘you’ will be. After all, wouldn’t this be the final sacrifice? The final one to happen, thus ending the curse; and by further extent, the curse of immortality too?

Whoever performed the ritual was not coming back. Bandit seemed to understand that too, just in time as Rex lay down. Enid walked over, seeing that there were restraints to the altar that kept people from moving.

How many people on this altar had lost their lives willingly?

Enid picked up the first restraint, her heart beating a thousand times a second. She didn’t want to do this. She was afraid; afraid to lose one of her only remaining companions. Her arms moved slowly to Rex.

Rex closed his eyes, and Enid stopped as she saw absolute terror on his face.

“... No.” Enid gulped. “No, I... I can’t let you do this.”

Rex opened his eyes. “Well, who else do you suppose should do it?”

“I will.”

Enid’s snap judgement was far too quick. It almost made her sound suicidal. But at this point, she’d come too far. Seen too much. She’d never be the same, so she might as well go out with a bang.

Bandit was immediately grabbing her. “Enid, no! You can’t!”

“I told you,” Enid responded. “I was going to make sure you didn’t have to suffer.”

“That’s not what I mean! I m-mean...” Bandit was beginning to cry. “Y-You... you said we’d escape together. W-Why do you want this?!”

“Because I HAVE to, Bandit.”

Enid’s motivation was completely irrelevant now. This was the right thing to do, and she would fight that until the day was done. Rex seemed not to understand the stakes. Bandit, though she loved her, didn’t either. Enid had to do this. There was no one else who could.

Rex slid off the altar, and Enid was quick to change places with him. Unlike Rex, she was not going to let her fear ruin the appearance.

“Are you sure about this?”

“Yeah...” Enid smiled. “I trust you.”

For once, that trust was about to get used on someone who actually wouldn’t betray her. When the restraints were tied tight, and Enid was unable to move at all, she looked up to see both Bandit and Rex standing at her side.

“B-Bandit, sweetie... go stand outside.” Enid blinked. “You don’t need to see this.”

Bandit sniffled, running out of the room without further question. That left just Rex and Enid, one of which was now holding that sacrificial dagger with almost murderous stance.

“... Are you sure about this?” Rex repeated. “T-The book says I need to start at the stomach, and then--”

“Don’t tell me what’s about to happen.” Enid closed her eyes, scrunching them tight. “Just... give me a countdown.”

... The blade of the knife rested gently against her stomach.

“Five... Four... Three...”

Rex couldn’t finish. He slammed the blade downwards into her, causing a searing pain to erupt over her body. Enid couldn’t hold it- she began screaming, her body trying to convulse, only to be restrained by the chains that she forced on herself. Rex yelled and apology, beginning to force the blade upwards.

From the beginning of the hip up to the middle of Enid’s body, she thought that it was true hell being inflicted on her. Then, when the blade moved a little further, getting stuck on her ribs that almost blocked out of principle, she realised she had no idea what Hell truly felt like. It took another ear-piercing screech for Enid to finally regret her decision as the ribs cracked, Rex’s strength overpowering Enid’s body. When her eyes began to fade, he removed the blade, the massive wound opening down to the spine.

She took a harsh, shuddering breath, the last one she was going to take, and Rex then raised the blade over where he thought her heart was.

And the knife plunged deep.

... Life... didn’t leave Enid. She felt herself suddenly thrown directly upwards, into the beating heart of The Heart Chamber, entering free fall through blood-red clouds and a golden sky. She hit several clouds on the way down, bouncing off them, until finally smashing against grass that felt far too soft to be real.

She groaned, opening her eyes, hating the feeling of agony that still erupted her body utterly. She just held herself as she tried to wait the feeling out, it being worse than any period cramp she’d ever felt.

The ultimate agony turned to agony, and down to pain, until it faded. She took a relieved sigh, flopping out facing the sky that had now turned the familiar blue and white. This was the first time in a long, long time that she’d ever felt free, even though there was no freedom to be had.

“Excuse me?”

Suddenly, Enid was aware of another male voice in the area. She rubbed her eyes, the shakiness fading, as her eyes began to slowly but surely come back to her.

And what she saw was something that, if you asked her today, she’d still have trouble explaining. Because what she saw was a human- maybe a little bit taller than the average height, with pale white skin and flowing brown hair. He wore a short-sleeved shirt and trousers decorated in colours that Enid had never seen before, or could even describe, as they did not exist to humankind, as were his eyes which shone beautifully and brightly.

And his voice- it was like dripping honey, beautiful and soft, and yet able to speak to Enid like she was an adult rather than some sort of dog. Enid didn’t doubt it anymore- The One Beyond was real, and was standing above her.

And was... human in appearance.

“Excuse me, ma’am.” He repeated, crouching down to be closer. “Are you okay?”

“I... I’m... alright.” Enid sat up, still a little sore. “Y-you’re... The One Beyond.”

“That’s me!” He smiled. “I take it you’re another one of my followers?”

“... Not... exactly.” Enid had to choose her words carefully. After all, he-

“Oh! That’s okay! Sorry for assuming. After all, I’ve had so many of them come through here.”

-Was... perfectly okay with it?

Enid blinked and shook her head. “W-What?”

“Come on, stand up...” He even extended a hand for her. “I like walking while I’m talking. Unless you don’t want to! I’ll be willing to sit with you.”

“N-No, I...” Enid took his hand. It was coarse, like he had worked every day of his life. “I can walk. That’s okay.”

“Splendid!” He began walking, and Enid followed. “That was quite the fall, you know. Nothing a little stretching of limbs can’t fix.”

“Y-Yeah.”

“Do you want anything to eat? Drink? I can fetch you something if you want.”

“No, that’s fine- why are you being so friendly?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” He grinned back at her. “It’s been a while since we last had someone visit!”

“We...?” Enid looked around.

“Ah, yes.” He turned to them. “We are The One Beyond. We are a God who likes making things.”

Enid had to take a deep breath. This... was unlike anything she’d ever suspected. She’d expected to have a battle of wits with some infinite-limbed creature, not walk in a field with a man who appeared to be a little older than her age.

“So... Mr. Beyond?” Enid shook her head at the stupid name. “Um... I came here, actually, to talk to you about Tekcas City.”

And then... the bombshell.

“What’s Tekcas City?” The One Beyond responded in confusion. “Is that some sort of sushi place?”

Enid felt a dagger drive into her. “Y-You don’t know... the name of the city you’re in charge of?”

“I... wasn’t aware there was a city I owned!” He smiled, excited. “Is it good? I’ve never seen it.”

Enid stayed completely silent.

“You see, I...” He thought. “I don’t actually... know, what’s going on outside of The Grand Beyond. I’m kinda lost when it comes to how things have developed! What, it’s been five hundred years?”

All at once, it hit Enid.

The One Beyond wasn’t aware that, all this time, his ‘cult’ had been doing this. He was unaware he had ever made an enemy of the city, simply because he just didn’t know that he was making an enemy to begin with.

He had never been a bad guy. Just... a bad influence.

So, with a horrible expression, Enid had to do what was right. She began explaining everything that had ever happened to her, from the day she ever entered the city borders. The day she met Osper, and the day she was forcefully inducted into the cult’s underground, only to be rescued from it by the man in question. The day they met Bandit. About Blanche, Eon, The Nameless, Divan; about Pathwalker, his most devout of the followers, of who he had no idea who existed.

About how she had opened the coffins, and had been transported to Second Quarter, and then to Fourth, and met Ross and Wefruc who she didn’t even expect to remember, and The Mascot who she wish should could forget. And then Gremlin, and Blair, and her return to the Third Quarter and meeting with Colmary, who at the time was called Enoch. About re-uniting with Osper and Bandit, about the day she fell in love with the girl. Then the day it all went wrong; the day they attacked Osper’s apartment, sending them scrambling for answers and evidence as to where they could go. The day that Osper and Colmary went to the library, and the day love blossomed further.

The day they entered Cullmary Hospital, trying to find some way into the Cult’s Kingdom through it, only to be attacked by the Clamor Furrure. She’d met Rex there, and had become something of a queen to them, surprisingly, as the Clamor Furrure became a worth ally. A way out for them. Osper had rallied the ranks of the First Quarter, marching them into battle alongside everyone else.

The Death of The Mascot. The Death of Divan, and the Banishment of The Nameless. The death of Eon, and hopefully Pathwalker.

The death of Blanche, who all this time had been a corrupted Mila.

The death of Osper.

All the while, The One Beyond listened, various amounts of shock or happiness or sadness or, in the worst cases, anguish on his face.

“T-This... This is what my power was used for?” He replied, his voice quiet. “To make a city that could never be escaped?”

Enid rubbed her head, a small headache emerging. “I’m sorry this is the way you had to find out.”

“I’m disgusted,” he told me straight. “I’m disgusted, and offended. This is not what I wanted! I did not want anyone to suffer like this!”

I nodded slowly. “I understand that now.”

“... What should I do, miss?” And like that, Enid’s world was flipped upside down for what felt like the eighth time that conversation. “I have... not had to deal with this. My power has stretched for centuries! It has found itself in the hearts of every man, woman and child who visited me.”

“How long has this been going on?” She asked The One Beyond. “How long have you had people ‘visit’ you through their sacrifices?”

“S-Sacrifices?!”

He seemed ballistic at that. She could tell, because a sudden gust of wind caught her from behind; not aimed at her, but at the people she was referring to.

“Did you not...” Enid bit her lip. “You... you really haven’t known anything about what’s been happening?”

“I barely knew who Pathwalker was, before today.”

Enid moved the hair out of her eyes as she shook her head. “Then... can you change this?”

“What is there to change?” The One Beyond asked. “I am willing to do anything for you. Say the word! I’ll make sure that this encounter ends with everyone happy.”

Enid swallowed. She knew that wasn’t possible, but he was getting too anxious now.

... Enid... suddenly found herself laughing nervously. Could a God make a stone so heavy that not even he could pick it up? Could a God make an ocean so deep, that he would never explore it?

Could a God make an emotion so real that even he could feel it?

“Okay.” She nodded. “Okay... okay. I... I can do that.”

“Speak!”

His commanding tone was all she needed to hear.

“To start... Tekcas City has a plague upon it that needs to be cleared.” She spoke shakily, yet forcefully. “Everyone who enters has become a husk of their former self. I don’t know how to fix that; however, I know that they do it because they’re trapped inside the city, with no way to get out. There’s some sort of curse that holds us here. We need it to be released.”

The One Beyond nodded. “Done.”

“And then, there’s these... coffins.” Enid shaped one. “They were summoned when you said a certain word, and they... they just have everything you ever want inside. Osper told me never to open them, but... I’m still not sure why.”

The One Beyond listened carefully. Although, now she looked, Enid saw the slightest amount of... fear? Hatred?

Confusion?

“I think the Coffins are connected to the way out,” Enid continued. “That’s why they need to be removed.”

The One Beyond seemed sceptical. “This is the first time I have ever heard of... Coffins. They bury dead, no?”

“They do!” Enid groaned. “Except in Tekcas City.”

“Well, then I’ll try and change that.” The One Beyond. “What else?”

“A-And finally...” She shakes her head. “W-Well, it’s a little egotistical.”

“No, please! Whatever you desire!”

Enid thought back to the people she’d been with. Osper, Colmary, Rex, Bandit... she had to think of which one wasn’t happy to be gone. Which one would cry over her for the rest of time if she was gone for good.

“Bandit...” She felt a single tear run down her face. “I... I want to come back to life! I don’t want to die, and... I want to be there for her! I love her, and... And I want to go back to living!”

The One Beyond’s hands suddenly begin glowing. “Is that all you desire?”

“Yes...” She smiled, tears continuing to pour. “Yes... Yes, that’s... all I’ve ever wanted. Please... Please, can you do that for me?”

The One Beyond gave her a single, firm nod. “I’m a God, Ma’am. Nothing is impossible for me.”

Enid sobbed happily. “T-Thank you... Thank you! Oh, thank you...”

“No worries. Now!” The One Beyond rubbed his hands together, making beautiful sparks of energy come from him. “Let’s begin the end of all the sorrow I’ve performed!”

The One Beyond began chanting in a dead language, one that Enid would never understand. She backed away as the lights around her grew brighter and brighter, shining like suns. She took another step back...

And her foot hit something. She turned, just in time to see what it was. Something that made her heart run cold and her fear completely fill her core.

It was... completely out of place. The rotting oak wood of a coffin lay there, big enough to fit her inside, the Christian Cross melded onto it by melt rather than screws. Her mind went blank as she noticed there was no lock on the coffin, unlike all the others; this was new, and was new in the same way that meeting the Gods was new for her.

It felt far too wrong. Far, far too wrong.

“Wait!” She yelled. “A coffin... it’s here!”

The One Beyond looked down at it from his floating position, his eyes like headlights. “What...?”

“S-Stop! Something’s seriously wrong!”

The One Beyond thought about that for a moment. His power ebbed as he floated down, landing on the grass once more and walking over to the coffin. His curiosity was much like Enid’s; he wasn’t sure what it was, and wanted to open it, but Enid forced him not to touch it.

“So... So what do we do about it?” He asked.

“I don’t know...” She shook her head. “... We take Osper’s advice I suppose.”

The One Beyond tilted his head. “And what, pray tell, is his advice?”

“... Well, it was... Not really enough to apply here.” She thought back- all that time ago, when Osper first spoke to her; well, yell at her. ““Don’t wrap yourself up in the laws of Tekcas. Run like your life depends on it. Ignore everything you’ve been told to do, and leave...”

She put a hand on the coffin lid, holding it down.

“And... don’t open the coffins.”

And then, the world went dark.

**END CHAPTER**


	21. CHAPTER 20- The Casket of the End

# CHAPTER 20- The Casket of the End

Enid coughed and spluttered as she sat up, feeling life return to her veins. She held onto her heart, never wanting it to stop beating, which luckily it didn’t seem to want to any time soon.

Her first idea was to call out for Bandit. At least, she would if her voice would co-operate with her- it was like her throat had turned to sandpaper. She desperately needed something to drink.

Luckily for her, it seemed that luck was on her side, as Rex had been sitting in one of the pews. “Oh my God...”

He got up, rushing to her side, helping her up off the ground.

“Easy! Easy...” He sat her back on the altar. “W-What happened? Did you do it?”

She made the motion for a drink, which Rex seemed to have ready, handing her a flask of water which she drained in six gulps.

“Hah...” She took a deep breath. “... He... He said he would... stop it all. Said it’d be over. I... I don’t know. What’s changed?”

Rex just looked over at the small pile of green and blue fur, sitting nearby the altar he’d been. “... A few things.”

Enid felt sorry for a second, but then realised she could talk and yelled. “Bandit! Where’s Bandit?!”

Rex nodded. He rushed out of the room, giving her time to look around. For starters, it appeared that the room as a whole had brightened, no red mist swirling anymore. The room had gone back to normal, and the ‘beating heart’ now appeared to be nothing than rock. Enid got up, her legs wobbly but firm, and walked her way to the first pew in the row to sit down.

That’s when she spotted something that confused her. Before she could see what it was, however, Bandit burst through the doors.

“ENID!”

“Bandit...!”

Bandit tackled into her with such force it knocked the wind out of Enid. “I-I thought you... You’re okay... you’re okay.”

“I’m here,” Enid told her, the hug feeling more like them holding onto each other so neither faded into obscurity. “We’re here. We’re okay.”

Rex stood back, letting the pair love each other for a bit, before pointing out the same thing that Enid was looking at. “I think you would want to see what we found.”

Enid looked around, still holding onto Bandit. From where she stood, she didn’t see it the same way Rex did, so she had to let go then, moving into view of one of the things on the walls.

“It’s...” She took a stab. “Cave Drawings...?”

“Not exactly.” Rex stroked the wall, showing they were painted on. “I predict this comes from the renaissance era. Maybe even Baroque. This city has been here for a very long time, which no doubt you know by now.”

Enid followed the way the walls were painted, seeing that a thousand different drawings were layered onto each other. Drawings of pain and discovery, drawings of following a ball of pure light through the fields and across mountains.

Drawings that seemed to... describe how the city came to power.

“What does this mean...?”

Rex sighed. “It’s just a timeline of the city.”

“No, it’s...” Enid’s eyes kept following the orb and where it came from. “It’s talking about how The One Beyond came to Tekcas City. But that can’t be possible, right? They said they discovered him, not...”

Bandit was holding Enid’s hand. “I... I-It’s a chance that... we never knew because nobody knew the truth. S-Sure, the book said it was always here, but whoever wrote that book never saw all this, right?”

“So this whole time, the cultists only knew the truth...” Rex nodded. “Sounds about right. After all, they’re hiding everything else...”

Bandit looked a little to the left, and then further to see something, gasping hard. Rex and Enid looked over too, seeing that what she was looking at was someone else.

A dark black cloak swirled around him, moving like a slow-acting hurricane. In his hand he held a double-bladed scythe, made to look like a pair of tusks. Almost none of the person was visible, corrupted by shadow, except for his diamond-studded glove that seemed to force him to grip onto the scythe. Under the hood, trails of pure-black hair flowed, but the shape of the person was masculine. The only hint they had to him being not what it seemed was that there was four, yellow glowing eyes inside the shadow of the hood.

Rex entered combat formation, but Enid stopped him with his hand.

“Who...Who are you?”

The person replied with pure silence, just a cold breathing from inside. Old; that’s the way he seemed to sound, even without words.

Bandit hugged Enid. “W-We... We don’t want any trouble...”

“How do you persist?” Rex yelled. “We uncursed the city! You should be... normal!”

That’s when the man raised his other hand, dressed in the same glove as the first, pointing directly at a random drawing on the wall. Enid followed his finger to see that he was pointing at the drawing of the floating light orb, travelling towards the city. She looked around it, wondering what was going on.

And then... she saw it.

A single blackened figure, dressed in the same cloak. And in each picture of the inside of the city, Enid saw him; the man of a black cloak and double-bladed scythe, standing up on buildings or off to the side where he couldn’t be seen. He hadn’t changed a day.

“... It’s you.” Enid, unlike the others, seemed to figure it out in that moment. “Y-You’re... You’re...”

The one standing there tapped his scythe twice.

“Tekcas.” Enid pointed. “You. You’re Tekcas. The one who owns the city.”

... In response, Tekcas did a slow nod. Enid saw her life flash before her eyes, and something reminded her of that day.

The day she met The Mascot.

He was there. On the roof. She’d thought of it for so long, about how one of the two things following her hadn’t looked like him. It was Tekcas who had been observing them. How long for...?

“Tekcas...” Enid felt almost guilty. “I’m sorry, I... I didn’t know.”

They didn’t respond.

“... Will you... please let us go?” She asked.

... They didn’t respond.

“What do you want from us?” Bandit asked, shaking. “W-We released the curse... you’re going t-to let us go, right?”

Fear gripped Enid when Tekcas’ head shook, slowly and gently.

Rex coughed. “What do we do?”

“I mean... trying to talk with him would be impossible, right?” Bandit turned to Enid. “A-Are... Are we going to die, Enid?”

That when the sound of something hitting the floor hard echoed the room. Everyone looked back over, seeing that on the floor in front of Tekcas was a coffin.

“What...?” Enid looked at it. “Y-You... But... the curse should be lifted. The Coffins shouldn’t be...”

Enid watched as Tekcas put a thigh-high boot on the coffin, pushing it forwards at Enid. The leg was covered in gross scars and blood, showing that Tekcas had suffered for a long time.

Enid, with nothing better to do, got to one knee and looked up at Tekcas. “If I open this... will you let us go?”

Again, no response, not even a nod or a shake of the head. Enid couldn’t let him discourage her; with a toughening of a gaze and grabbing the locks, she unlocked them and pushed the coffin open.

Inside was paper. More paper than she’d expected- it was like a manuscript. She only had to read the front page to know what was wanted of her.

**‘TEKCAS CITY’**

_‘My escape from the city you cannot leave’_

_‘By Enid Ross’_

“... You want me to...” She looked up, shocked. “You want me to tell the story of what happened here.”

Another slow nod. It was backed up by Enid picking up a familiar camera, a camera of which showed almost a hundred different pictures of around-the-corner photos of past enemies performing sacrifices and talking in their robes. If she published this story with the pictures provided, she could...

“You want me to... report it?”

And then... the word triggered something in her head.

“... Report it.” Enid stood, holding it. “Report it. I can report it! I’m a reporter, I...”

Memories. Memories she’d forgotten she had, simply because she had no reason to remember. The City had removed the memories from her, made her want to stay- now she had them back. She remembered everything- Friends, Family, things that she never though she lost. How her dad died to cancer, and how mom was all she had left. She remembered her boyfriend- the boy she no longer had feelings for- and all she’d left behind in the UK.

“I... I’m a reporter!” She smiled, looking to Bandit. “I remember everything! I remember everything, I...”

She took a deep breath.

“Can... Can we discuss this on the surface?”

Tekcas gave them another look...

And then gave the familiar nod.

**...**

On the surface, they discovered it was abandoned. Not a single soul remained in the streets. In fact, most of the buildings looked about ready to keel over, so Enid dragged Bandit through the streets to keep them away. Eventually, they arrived in Third Quarter, back in front of the Saloon style bar that had started the journey.

Enid had not stopped holding Bandit’s hand since the beginning. “S-So... is this goodbye?”

Tekcas looked to Rex, who looked back. “Look. I’m not going to lie, I... I don’t think it’d be worth my time to come with you.”

He stood proud, having explained why. His memories had come back to him too, and he’d remembered why he’d even come to the city in the first place- to discover a cure for his daughter for a disease that had yet to be discovered.

Enid resisted the urge to tell him that daughter was gone. Bandit had luckily followed suit. Somehow, however, it was obvious that he already knew; after all, he refused to come with them, thinking that he could make a better name for himself by trying to contact the military or something to put the city down for good.

“All it’d take is one bombing run, and the souls who’ve died here can finally move on.” He looked to Tekcas, who was the same height as him. “Of course, with your permission.”

Tekcas nodded slowly. Rex took that to mean yes.

“So please...” He nodded. “Head off! I’d give you something to travel with, but... you know.”

On the uncursing of the city, all of the Clamor Furrure- the... only, Clamor Furrure- had burst into fur, leaving Rex alone. Tekcas looked to Rex as he shrugged, extending a hand for a handshake.

Enid ignored that, going straight into a hug that Rex responded to. Had it not been for his confidence, the curse would’ve never been lifted in the first place. It may not have seemed like it, but Rex had helped far more than first glance would tell you.

Of course... Bandit was who Enid cared most for now, which was obvious when Enid released the hug and backed up to her. Without the forced immortality that corrupted the city, Enid and Bandit were finally going to be able to live a life together. And who knows?

Maybe Enid hadn’t been feeling confident about herself before all this happened. Maybe Enid was in a career path she didn’t want to take. Perhaps now she’d go back to college, alongside Bandit, make an actual LIFE out of her life.

She just had to get home first.

“So...” She giggled, holding Bandit’s other hand and looking down into her eyes. “Shall we get walking?”

Bandit blushed. “W-We should.”

“And... Tekcas...” She looked back to him. “I know we haven’t seen eye to eye. Your city has removed literal months from my life, and the person I’m trying to be. But I’m happy to have met you, and I’m happy that you and I finally see the same way.”

Tekcas didn’t respond, just staring.

“... We’re going to go now.” Enid rubbed the back of her head. “Thanks, Tekcas. And thank you, Rex. I hope... you find peace, whatever it is you’re doing.”

“And to you, I speak the same.” Rex nodded. “Goodbye! Good luck!”

And with that... Enid and Bandit began walking away. It was 5 miles to the bus stop, if she remembered correctly- Five Miles to walk to the very first place she’d been dropped off.

“So, um...” As they walked, Bandit tried to add comedy to it. “G-Guess we’re past meeting the parents?”

Enid chuckled sadly. “Mom’s accepting. She won’t mind you.”

“... Well, considering I have no memories of outside this place...” Bandit touched her fingers together. “I s-suppose I was... born in Tekcas City.”

“Yep.” Enid put an arm around Bandit’s shoulders. “Good that you’re not dying there.”

Bandit smiled, holding Enid’s hand as they walked like that for a while.

“... I love you, Enid.”

“I love you too, Bandit.”

“L-Let’s... stay together, okay?” Bandit asked, cautiously. “I don’t... want to lose you. Ever.”

“And we won’t.” Enid hugged her into herself. “We’ve been through too much. No point losing each other now.”

“... I mourned you, you know.” Bandit told her quietly. “I mourned your death.”

“Well I’m still here now,” Enid quipped back. “And I’m not leaving you again that easily.”

It felt like no time at all before Enid and Bandit passed the gas station.

“Oh, um, hold up.” Enid stopped. “I need to...”

Enid ran over, heading inside the store. She turned, ready to talk, but she saw that there was... well, there was just a skeleton working the counter now. She walked over, looking over the counter, and flinched when she saw his legs had been chained to the floor.

She looked up at his dead face, relief almost seemingly floating around it.

“... Sorry.” She told them. “I... I guess I should’ve expected this.”

And then she grabbed two bottles of water from under the counter, taking them out and handing one to Bandit. Walking in silence for a bit, Enid read through the stapled bundle of paper in her hands, seeing that it was written in excruciating detail about her journey. Turned out that Tekcas had been watching from the start- the ‘book’ started the very second she’d gotten off the bus, all the way through her journey that she’d already recollected once before.

No point reading it now, though. She’d type it up when she got home, as the script appeared to be done in block capital handwriting.

Then, they were at the bus station, waiting for the bus to arrive. One bus a day- she remembered being told that. What time? She didn’t remember. They’d probably already missed it, which might’ve not been true since the sun was barely in the sky.

“... Enid?”

“Yes, Bandit?”

Bandit smiled, a little embarrassed. “C-Could... Could you read, the book? To me?”

Enid smiled, patting her lap for Bandit to lay down on. “Certainly.”

Bandit did as she was told, laying her head down on Enid’s lap. Enid planted a kiss on her forehead, making her blush again, before turning back to the first page.

“I stepped off the bus, down into the dusty bus station of the town of Tekcas. It said ‘City’ in the name, but I didn’t care- after all, I was told the town consisted of a thirty residents, so it wasn’t even really a town, more of a village than anything. Why I was here was the more important part. After all, my entire career of Journalism depended on it...”

**...**

“I believe that... the truth of it is, I never really did feel so scared once I met the ones that helped me. Bandit, Osper, Rex and Colmary... they had helped me finally take down the cult, an enemy I had never wanted to make. But their courage and strength and loyalty gave me something I had never thought I’d wanted to be abused...”

_Tsssss..._

“They gave me trust in not only them... but myself.”

Enid giggled, mouthing the line as she heard herself speaking it. Audio books... they were silly. Bandit certainly didn’t agree, as she’d fallen asleep listening to them.

“Wow...” She sighed. “I can’t believe it’s been a year since I published that. It sounds so silly hearing me so worried.”

Enid turned off the audio book, making a small reminder to herself to call Ronsin later for some more work.

“Sweetie.” Bandit poked Bandit’s cheek, waking her up. “Come on, breakfast is ready.”

“O-Oh... sorry.”

“It’s fine!”

... Around two years have passed since the day Tekcas City was left behind. Enid and Bandit, in their university building, have been living together for at least one of them. Bandit had been getting into her medical degree, having just finished a two-hour exam last night and sending it off to her professor.

Meanwhile, Enid was on Architecture. She had something in mind- a project, perhaps a bit too ambitious, but definitely the reason she wants it. Both of their courses lined up with each other, so they could spend an hour together today before they had to go to class.

That’s why Bandit was getting bacon and eggs today instead of a slice of fruit. She had actually woken up at a reasonable time. Enid sat next to her, eating with her.

Luckily for both of them, their dorm pet wasn’t a greedy dog. The King Charles spaniel sat in front of them, looking back and forth with puppy-dog eyes; fitting, considering it was indeed a puppy dog. Bandit was the first to crack, tossing it a scrap which it devoured quickly.

It then yapped twice, hopping up and down on the side of the couch, wondering if it was time for cuddles.

“Gremlin...” Enid rolled her eyes, putting an empty plate behind her. “Alright. C’mere, Gremlin! Up!”

The dog known as Gremlin jumped up and onto her lap, licking her face as she laughed. That burst of energy was immediately followed by him settling down, putting its head on her lap as he got his ears tickled.

“Did you call your mother yet?” Bandit asked Enid.

“It’s seven in the morning,” Enid responded. “She wouldn’t be awake yet.”

“... Why is it seven?” Bandit groaned.

“Because you woke up at this time!” Enid laughed, bumping shoulders with her. “So what do we do, then? You wanna take a shower before class, or?”

Bandit finished her meal while they talked, putting it behind her onto the kitchen table that was close enough to the couch to be considered an extension of it. “Mm... I don’t know. Smell me.”

Enid leant over, sniffing Bandit’s neck, which made her flinch and giggle.

“I think you smell okay...” Enid gave her sly look. “Lemme check again.”

“A-Ah, no!” Bandit saw it coming a mile off, grabbing her hand as Enid went to tickle her. “Ahah! No, it tickles!”

Gremlin got out of that before he could get involved, hopping down and onto the floor, looking back to see the laughter of a tickle fight turn to the lust of a make-out session. He trotted away happily, going to his bed which was under the kitchen table, setting his head down on his favourite squeaky toy- a weird pink creature that he would never know he was named after.

Gremlin did bite it a few times, reminding himself that it did a small squeak similar to a yelling sound, but he didn’t mind. He was more interested in sleeping now. Maybe he’d be pet later when he woke up! That’d be fun.

Gremlin closed his eyes, getting well deserved rest. As he did, he scratched his collar, making sure the Butterfly Emblem was on the right side of his neck instead.

**END**


End file.
